That Parker Kid (Episode 2: The Man of Mystery)
by avigailrose
Summary: On that day, not much was supposed to happen. Just tutoring and patrol afterwards. That Saturday wasn't meant to be a particularly eventful day for Peter Parker. But when a mysterious man appeared out of nowhere, trying to commit vengeance on Peter for his father's sins, Peter is left with a mystery on his hands: Who was this man? What secrets did his father keep from him?
1. Chapter 5

**A/N: Soooooo...**

**Yeah, sorry that I didn't upload on Friday. Due to a mixture of circumstances (mostly school and procrastinating editing), I won't be able to be super consistent with my uploading schedule. **

**Anyways, hope you guys are all safe from Dorian.**

**-Av**

Peter was eight when he found out that his father wasn't his father.

Aunt May and Uncle Ben were having a seriously-important-adult conversation that Peter wasn't supposed to hear.

The circumstances were similar to how his aunt and uncle discussed their money problems: In the kitchen, at the dead of night, when Peter was supposed to be sleeping.

At the time, young Peter just wanted to use the bathroom, but when there was a small amount of light peeking out from the bottom of his door and some whispering, Peter knew that his aunt and uncle were having a conversation that he wasn't supposed to listen to. So, he sat down on the floor, and leaned against the door.

As he suspected, they were discussing bills. Hospital bills.

A familiar sense of guilt filled Peter's tummy. He knew he shouldn't feel guilty. It wasn't his fault that he was sick. But he couldn't help it.

The little boy leaned closer towards the door when he heard his aunt hiss, "Why don't we get that good-for-nothing asshole to pay for all of this? He gets enough blood money, selling those weapons of his! He can afford one little kid's medical bills!"

"May, please." Uncle Ben sounded tired. "Mary didn't want Stark involved in Peter's life for a reason. You know what he could do if he finds out that he has a son."

May snorted. "Please. You think a man like that would ever take responsibility for a child? Besides, I'll fight him tooth and nail before he takes our Peter-"

"May." Ben interrupted.

His aunt stopped her rant.

Peter didn't understand. Someone wanted to take him away? Who? Why?

"We're going to respect Mary's wishes." Ben stated softly. "She had her reasons for not wanting that man in our nephew's life, and we're going to respect that. Don't worry about the bills, I'll figure something out with insurance."

There was a pause.

"Our insurance? Seriously? They don't do shit-"

"May-"

"Why can't he just do his goddamn job, and help us keep his son alive! I don't get it! I don't get it!"

There was a scraping of chairs.

Peter felt sick as his aunt sobbed. He didn't know what to think, he was only eight. So, he decided to do what most children like Peter would do: He never mentioned it. As long as nobody tried to take him away, he wouldn't say a word.

He realized, as he grew older, what that conversation meant, and who Peter's real father was. But since Uncle Ben and Aunt May never mentioned it, and they still treated him like their child, Peter decided not to say anything until they did.

Peter didn't even mention to his aunt that he met his father for the first time in his life. That would involve explaining and tears, things that Peter currently couldn't stomach.

Besides, they were both still feeling the sting of Uncle Ben's death. Peter couldn't help but find it to be….inapropriete to tell May that he met his father at that time. He figured that once Tony Stark reached out to them, he'd explain everything.

The only problem with that scenario was….Tony Stark never called them. Or had been in contact with them in anyway.

Peter told himself that it was the shock. The teenager had six years to take in that information, afterall. So, he waited patiently. He answered all phone calls he received. He checked the spam on his personal and school emails everyday.

Each and every morning, he told himself that it would happen any day now. He'd finally have his father in his life. Aunt May and Tony Stark would learn to get along, and they could be a happy family.

It would happen any day now. Any day now.

Any day now….

When Peter woke up on Friday morning, he realized that he woke up before his alarm for once.

He lay in his bed staring at the digit clock for an entire minute. The temptation to snuggle back up in his warm bed was so hard to resist, but Peter would like to not to be tardy for once. So, he forced himself to get up and shower.

After slipping on his suit and his uniform, Peter stared at his messy mop of brown hair. He tugged at a strand, and he began the debate that he had every morning: Was he too lazy to style his hair, or should he try to look nice for once?

Peter glanced at an old jar of gel. He glanced back at his reflexion.

Hm….Maybe he'd try to work on his hair next week.

After that, Peter packed up his satchel. He was about to leave his room, when he did a once over and realized that he forgot his fake glasses.

He continued on his merry way.

"Morning, Petey-Pie." His aunt greeted as soon as Peter entered their tiny kitchen.

"Morning, Aunt May." The teenager gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Did you sleep well?" May asked as she slid a plate of eggs in front of him.

"Yeah." He lied. "You?"

May smiled sadly. "I slept perfectly."

They were both lying. They both knew they were lying. Neither called the other one out on it.

"I have a double shift tonight." May said as the teenager inhaled his breakfast. "Can I trust you to eat anything besides a tv dinner?"

Peter stood up, and filled a glass with some juice. "I mean ...Do you want a kitchen fire ...?"

May chuckled. "Yeah, maybe not. Hey, don't chug that, you'll choke!"

The teenager gulped. "Sorry, ma'am."

Peter quickly finished the rest of his breakfast before doing the dishes. He brushed his teeth, kissed his aunt's cheek, and rushed out the door to catch his train.

Once Peter entered the crowded subway, he took a few minutes to check his email. When he noted that there was nothing of interest, he considered emailing Stark Industries, again. Again, he chickened out, because he was Peter Parker at the moment, not Spider-Man, and Peter Parker was a complete coward.

Also, the people who would read his email would probably immediately delete it. Afterall, how many people this week alone claimed to be fathered by _the_ Iron-Man? Probably enough for all of them to be doubted.

Oh god, what if Peter had siblings out there ...?

He shook his head. His stop was coming, so he stood up, and walked closer to the door.

As it turned out, it was really nice to actually get to school on time or, god forbid, early.

There was an emptiness in the halls that wasn't filled with silent judgement. It was a bit echoey without the large mass of students rushing to class, and Peter enjoyed that. The stroll to his locker felt like a luxury without people elbowing him in the ribs.

He opened his locker door, glad to start a new day, when the door slammed in his face. Peter stiffened for a moment, but his spider-sense didn't go off.

"Pete, is that you?" An expression of fake shock permeated Mary Jane Watson's face.

The teenager rolled his eyes as he redid his locker combo. "Nope. I'm Peter's long lost twin, Perez Parker."

MJ snorted. "Perez? What, is that Hebrew or something?"

"I think so." Peter replied as he opened his locker. His heart was racing, as it usually did whenever Mary Jane was around him. He picked out the books he needed that morning, and closed the door.

"So, what are you doing here so early?" MJ continued. Peter noted how her curly, dyed-red hair was in a ponytail that day. "Like, are you actually Peter, or were you replaced by one of those aliens?"

The teenager snorted. "Actually, I woke up before my alarm."

"Yeah, you're definitely not Peter." She shifted her backpack.

"Probably not." Peter agreed, as his face warmed. "So, did the guild end up beating that troll?"

Mary Jane sighed dramatically. "Well, we might have, if someone didn't decide to ditch the raid last minute. Again."

The teenager winced. "Er ...Sorry, Mary Jane. I was-"

"-Busy." She guessed. She shrugged. "It's not the end of the world, tiger, it's just a game. It's just ...Ugh, you said that you'd be there."

Peter shrugged. "I didn't realize we'd get so much homework."

The truth: '_I didn't realize that it would take me so long to find out where O'Hirn was hiding after he robbed that jewelry store.'_

"I'll make it up to you." Peter continued.

Mary Jane sighed. It made Peter wince, because he knew that this wasn't the first time he'd said that since he became Spider-Man. He wondered how many 'I'll make it up to you's it'll take before MJ ditched him for a better best friend.

"Whatever." MJ sighed. "Gwen wants you to pay her back for her gear, though."

"Fair enough." Peter replied. He shifted his glasses. "How's play practise going?"

"Great." Mary Jane replied. "It's fun."

'_Not as fun without you.' _Peter read.

God, he was an awful friend.

"How's the Bugle?" MJ asked.

The teenager opened his mouth to complain, but immediately shut it.

Mary Jane nudged him. "I'm not really mad, Pete. I know you're busy and stuff. I don't blame you for being busy."

Peter sighed. He didn't deserve Mary Jane. He didn't deserve having her as a friend.

"Has….'You-Know-Who' called you?" She added.

"Nope." Peter replied. He opened their homeroom door for her. "But….like….I don't blame him. It's a shock, you know?"

MJ chewed her lip as Peter closed the door behind him. "It's been weeks, Pete. Isn't it time to just stomp into his office, or something?"

The teenager shook his head. "Nah, I can wait. I don't want to rush things, you know?"

Mary Jane nodded slowly. They took their usual seats in the back of the classroom. "Well, when you guys finally talk and stuff, you know what that means?"

"What?"

"You'll have enough money to get _all _of us new gear."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Let me have a conversation with him first before I can promise anything."

"Alright. I'm just saying….."

The teenager chuckled, before pulling out his stuff.

"Have you worked on any drawings lately?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, and they're all crap."

"I doubt it."

"Well, they are, and I hate them."

"Can I see them?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I hate them."

"Aw, c'mon-"

The door opened.

The pair paused as some other kids began to pour in. With them was Harry Osborn.

Harry waved as soon as he saw his two friends, but frowned when he realized that Peter was there. He turned to Mary Jane.

"Is that actually Peter, or did he make a hologram of himself?" The taller boy had a completely serious expression as he sat down.

Mary Jane tapped her dimpled chin jokingly. "You know, I haven't figured it out just yet…."

"Har-de-har-har." Peter rolled his eyes.

Harry plopped into the seat in front of Peter. "Dude, where were you last night? Gwen blew a gasket when we realized that you weren't going to show-"

"Sorry. Lots of homework, I forgot to text you guys."

Harry huffed. "Eddie's gonna let you have it lunch."

"I know, I'm sorry." The teenager made a pleading expression at his friend.

Harry studied him, and sighed. "Hey, I'm just glad I'm not in your shoes. Gwen sounded like she was planning a murder or something."

Peter groaned. "She hasn't texted me yet."

"Oh, I'd expect a phone call, tiger." MJ replied as she frowned at her sketch book.

The bell rang. The trio ceased conversation.

The rest of the day was completely ordinary. Flash Thompson threw things at Peter whenever he got bored. Most people ignored Peter, per usual. Occasionally, he'd have a class with either MJ and Harry.

Eventually, the lunch bell rang.

Peter sighed in relief. He felt so hungry, and he couldn't wait to dive into the five sandwiches he made.

"Peter, can I speak to you for a moment?" Professor Warren asked as the brunette packed up.

Peter forced a polite smile. At this point, his head was pounding from hunger, but he ignored it. "Sure."

He followed the teacher to his desk, but froze at the sight of Liz Allen chilling besides it. At the sight of Peter, she made a face.

"Peter, Liz here is having some trouble with her biology grade. I was hoping that you could tutor her for the final-"

"You have got to be kidding me!" Liz blurted out.

Professor Warren gave her a glance that immediately silenced her.

"Peter is the top student of this class." He replied sternly. "It makes sense that he tutors you, does it not?"

Oh god, Peter really didn't want to be involved in this conversation. He glanced at Liz, who was currently glaring at him like this was all his idea. He gulped.

"I-I mean, I guess, if you want it….." Peter stuttered out.

Professor Warren clapped his hands. "Excellent! What do you say, Liz?"

The popular girl huffed. "Fine."

The two exchanged numbers. Peter gave Professor Warren his good-byes, than rushed to room 214.

"_Liz Allen?!" _Eddie's eyebrows immediately rose. "You're tutoring _Liz Allen?"_

Peter only groaned.

There was good news and bad news: Good news, Eddie felt so bad for Peter that he decided to give him a break about missing the raid. Bad news: Peter was tutoring Liz Allen.

"Sheesh, good luck, bro." The older boy patted Peter's shoulder in sympathy. "Flash Thompson is not going to be pleased."

Peter groaned. "Don't remind me!"

Harry frowned into his almonds (it appeared that his father (or more likely, his father's publicity team) decided to force him into another diet. Harry hated almonds). "I still don't get why you didn't just say, 'no', Pete."

"Because Flash Thompson would kill me!" The teenager covered his face with his hands. "There's no winning here! Either way, Flash's gonna kill me!"

Mary Jane huffed. "Honestly, what a lowlife. If we were in public school, and his daddy didn't have all this money, he wouldn't get away with this, I swear."

"Wouldn't he?" Peter raised an eyebrow. "Since when do star football players get in trouble for anything?"

"I could think of a thing or two." MJ shrugged.

Eddie rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter _if _he didn't have money and went to a public school, the problem is that the PTA is wrapped around the Thompsons' little finger. No teacher would dare punish that poor, little rich boy."

Harry looked immediately uncomfortable.

"I mean, they'd probably be wrapped around _your _little finger, too, Pete, if you'd just-"

"Well, I'm on scholarship, so no, no one's wrapped around my little finger." Peter glared at Eddie for bringing up that subject.

Eddie shrugged. "Just saying, Pete. Rich kids get to throw their weight around."

Peter decided to change the subject. "It's not even just the fact that Flash is brat. Liz is one, too-"

"Can we not talk about this?" Harry asked. "I mean, c'mon guys, it's not like you know their situations, anyways."

The trio froze. They glanced at Harry, who was staring hard into his almonds. He was the only one in the group who hadn't taken off his jacket.

"Yeah, sure, man." Peter scratched his nose, and held out his MnMs towards his friend. Harry took a few, and stared at the floor.

Mary Jane chewed her apple thoughtfully. She turned to Eddie. "Speaking of home lives, how's the new foster family?"

Eddie scoffed. "Just great. They've ignored me since the moment I unpacked my stuff."

Harry and Peter winced.

Peter held out his MnMs towards Eddie.

Eddie didn't take. "Can I spend the weekend at your house, Pete? I'm not sure I can take anymore silence."

The shorter teenager paused from chewing.

"I have to tutor Liz on Saturday." He said (MJ smacked his shoulder for talking with food in his mouth). "I doubt you'd want to be there to hear all that."

Eddie sighed. "I can do homework or something. C'mon, man, I miss seeing your aunt."

Peter stared at the floor. "Yeah. I miss seeing her, too."

There was another pause.

"My dog threw up on our carpet last night." Mary Jane suddenly said.

The trio immediately glanced at her.

She shrugged. "Thought we were having a group therapy session."

Eddie turned to Harry. Harry shook his head. "My dad's coming back from a business trip. Even I don't want to home during the weekend."

"Mom doesn't like guys sleeping over." MJ replied.

Eddie sighed, and nodded. He began to pack his stuff up. "See you dorks later."

The bell rang just as he left the door, so the trio packed up the rest of their stuff, and headed out.

**Playlist used for last episode: ** playlist?list=PLxYKrk8jvJKbsoDNH38VwftuPfYFQwFwt


	2. Chapter 6

Was there anything better than dressing up in a red and blue onesie on a Friday night, while swinging around the New York city skyline?

Spider-Man couldn't think of a single thing.

He swooped through the city, free falling just within a few seconds of things becoming more dangerous than they already were, before shooting out some webbing that pulled him out of harm's way.

Much more fun and extremely more dangerous than the average roller coaster...But that's probably what made it so much fun in the first place. The swoops and 'alley-oops!'s sent an enjoyable tension that knotted the webhead's stomach, while loosening up that tension at the same time.

To put it simply, swinging around the city was the best experience ever.

The vigilante smiled to himself as he passed the Bugle Building. He flipped it off for fun, than did a double somersault to show off before shooting out more webbing.

So far, Spider-Man had stopped three potential robberies, four muggings, stopped a creepy guy from following a drunk girl, and walked that drunk girl back to her dorm.

So far, it had been a pretty eventful night, and it wasn't even twelve yet.

The teenager did a sharp turn, and landed on a rooftop. He crawled in the direction that faced Stark Tower. He crouched, and stared at it in thought.

It's been a little quiet for a few minutes, so he wondered if it was safe for him to have some fun.

See, Stark Tower was the tallest building in the entire city. It would make for the best 'sky-diving-but-with-inorganic-webbing-instead-of-a-parachute' experience Spidey would ever have experienced (and would also get rid of some tension from the lack of emails).

Stark Tower, however, was also one of the most guarded buildings in all of the state, most likely due to the fact that it had been attacked and destroyed on multiple occasions.

Spider-Man glanced at the penthouse, where Mr. Stark lived when he wasn't at the Mansion.

Desperation, mixed with seeds of resentment suddenly planted into Peter's stomach.

The teenager shook his head.

This was for fun, and to see how fast he could get to the roof before security told him to knock it off. He wasn't doing this for attention from Iron-Man.

No…this was for science.

Taking a deep breath, Spider-Man straightened up, before sinking back down. He covered his masked face with his gloves hands.

Was he seriously about to do something so extremely illegal and intrusive just because his daddy wasn't paying attention to him? Had he seriously reached that point of desperation?

Spider-Man stared at Stark Tower.

He couldn't act like this. It was bad enough that the only impression his father had of him was a whiny, teenage vigilante who fainted like a pansy when things got too hard. Even if Tony Stark wasn't aware that Peter Parker _was_ that whiny teenaged vigilantee who fainted like a pansy, but that wasn't the point!

Peter jumped a couple of buildings in order to get closer. He sank down to stare at it in desperation.

God, it'll be the third week of radio silence since father and son had met. How much more time did Mr. Stark need? How much longer did Peter have to wait to talk to him? Couldn't the older man have at least told Peter how long it would take? Or was the man simply choosing to ignore him-

Peter shook his head.

No. No. This was Iron-Man! Tony Stark…_This _Tony Stark would never do that! He wouldn't abandon his kid like that!

Peter just needed to be patient, that was all.

The teenager shook his head. Suddenly, police sirens sounded off in the distance.

Spider-Man stood up.

'_Finally. Something to do.'_

The tutoring session would begin at 1 o'clock sharp, at Peter's apartment.

May encouraged him to wait outside for Liz because that was, and he quoted, 'The gentleman's way to do things'. Peter, of course, pointed out that he looked a little too scruffy to be a gentleman, which resulted in May throwing a pillow at him, and promising to give him a haircut when she had time.

The expression on the rich girl's face when she walked out of her fancy car told Peter that this wasn't going to be an easy tutoring session.

"Oh...you live here?" She asked dryly, obviously trying her best to be polite.

"Mhm." Peter opened the building's door with a key. He held it out for her.

"Oh...it's…..Interesting." She stated weakly. She waved at her driver before entering the building.

Peter followed her. "It's home."

"Right." Liz made a face. She frowned at the elevator in distrust.

Peter pressed the button. Behind them, the front door opened, and a voice called out, "Pesach! Shabbot Shalom!"

The teenager turned to the Yeshivish family from a floor above him. "Shabbot shalom, rabbi! Do you guys need me to help you out with the elevator?"

Rabbi Wasser smiled. "If it is no trouble to you and your friend."

"Of course not." The teenager smiled at the rest of the family. The two sons greeted him, and the third kid, a baby girl, waved a salva soaked hand at him.

Liz just stood by awkwardly as the elevator door opened. Peter held out a hand to allow the family to enter first. Once they were in, the teenager pressed the buttons for the sixth and seventh floors.

"How's May doing, Pesach?" Rabbi Wasser asked.

"She's good. Busy with work." Peter replied.

The rabbitizin turned to Liz, and smiled. "I haven't seen you around before, dear. What's your name?"

The girl shifted awkwardly. "Uh...Liz…Um…your baby is really cute."

Rabbitzin Wasser beamed. "Isn't she? Baruch Hashem, for blessing me with a healthy baby girl."

"Right." Liz replied, looking clearly confused.

The elevator door opened.

"Have a good Shabbos!" Peter called as the two exited. The teenager waited until the elevator door was closed before Peter explained, "There's a lot of Jewish people in my building."

Liz's only response was, "Why did they call you that?"

"That?-Oh. You mean 'Pasach'? That's my Hebrew name." Peter examined the keys on his keychain before selecting the one for his apartment. "I'm Jewish."

"Oh." Liz replied. "They seem nice."

"They are." Peter unlocked the door. "They invite my aunt and I over for meals, sometimes. They're really nice people."

Speaking of nice people: Peter's apartment smelled of freshly baked cookies.

"Peter?" May called out.

"No, a robber. I'm here to steal _all _the cookies." Peter called back.

"With that attitude, you'll get nothing."

The teenager chuckled, very happy that May had taken the day off for the first time in awhile. He glanced at Liz, who was looking around. She looked awkward.

"Uh…you can put your stuff over there." Peter pointed to the coffee.

"Right." Liz replied. She sank down slowly on their couch, eyes nervously darting to every location that wasn't Peter.

'_Huh.' _The teenager thought. '_That's…different.'_

Aunt May made a sudden and graceful appearance from the kitchen. She carried a plate full of cookies, and made a face at Peter.

"Did you offer your guest anything to drink?" She asked.

"Oh...uh…." Peter turned to Liz. "Do you want anything to drink?"

Liz's eyes darted from May to Peter.

"No, thanks." She muttered.

May smiled at Liz. "It's nice to meet you, dear. I'm May Parker, Peter's aunt."

Liz's eyes shifted from her to Peter.

"Liz." She muttered.

May smiled at her, than raised an eyebrow at Peter.

"Right." May replied. "Well, I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything."

"Thanks, Aunt May." Peter sat on the floor by the coffee table, where he already laid out his stuff.

The girl next to him waited until May was out of sight before asking, "Why don't you live with your parents?"

Peter stiffened. He stared at his textbook. "Uh…It's complicated. So, what have you studied so far?"

Liz made a face at Peter's lack of response, before pulling her stuff out of her backpack. "The final's a month away."

The superpowered teenager raised an eyebrow at her. "So?"

Liz scoffed. "We haven't even gotten a study guide yet! What's the point of studying now?"

"Well, you want to pass the class, right?" Peter opened to the first chapter.

"Don't patronize me, Parker." Liz made a face. "It's bad enough that _you _of all people are helping me. Don't brag to me how a mere mortal like me has to actually study to pass stuff."

Peter paused. He frowned at her. "What are you talking about? Of course I need to study."

The teenager raised an eyebrow, doubt clear on her face.

"What? You think I hear stuff in class, and just remember it?" Peter shook his head. "Studying for finals and midterms a month in advance is normal for me. I have to work my butt off if I want to be top of the class."

"Right." Liz replied.

The brunette sighed. There was no point arguing with her. Instead, he pulled out his notes. "Okay. Let's just get started, alright?"

Liz huffed, but nodded.

The next two hours ended up not being as terrible as Peter thought that they'd be.

It was clear that Liz found the whole subject to be boring, so Peter did his best to teach it in a way that was interesting. He wasn't sure if it did much, but she seemed to somewhat to be getting it.

But after they took a small break, Liz threw her pencil on her notebook. "I'm never going to get this stuff!"

Peter raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? You've been getting for awhile, now."

"No! I'm not! I don't understand a single thing that you're saying!"

The freckled teenager eyed her.

"You know," Peter replied slowly. "If you don't understand what I'm saying, you can ask me, right?"

Liz snorted. "Why? So you can make fun of me for not getting it?"

Peter stared at her seriously. "When have I made fun of you? The entire time that you have been here, when have I said a single word to you that mocked you in anyway?"

Liz stared at him for a minute. She glared at the coffee table.

"You're smart, Liz." Peter continued. "You can get this stuff, I know it."

There was a pause.

"Are you flirting with me?" She finally demanded.

Peter blanched, his face reddening.

"What!? No!" He yelped. "I-No-That-that would be very inappro-I'm not-"

Liz watched him as he stuttered. After a moment, she laughed.

It made Peter relax a little. He blushed, and glanced at the floor.

"Geez, you're harmless." Liz smiled, leaning against the table.

Peter stiffened. He studied her for a moment, before shaking his head.

"Okay, so," He said, as he picked his text book back. "What's the difference between animal cells and plant cells?"

Liz made a face. "The…cell wall?"

"What else?" Peter pressed.

Liz's face scrunched up to the point where Peter would have laughed at her if he didn't know whether that would hurt her feelings.

She cursed, and flopped her face into her notebook.

Peter sighed, but waited patiently until Liz put herself back together again.


	3. Chapter 7

**A/N: Holy crap! There are people from all over the world reading this! Thank you!**

**Okay, so, yeah, no more weekly updates. Or currently, anyways. The High Holidays are a-happening, college is crazy, and I am striving for a job. I do have all the material for Episode 2, but the updating is going to be slow, since I'm not happy with how Episode 3 came out. **

**I'm not abandoning this story. I'm planning at doing, at the very least, two seasons, so, no worries. **

**Also, if anyone has any time to comment down below, that would be appreciated! I don't have a beta, all the editing is being done by your's truly, so if you notice something that is worthy of critics, please let me know. **

**All right! Onto the story!**

They didn't stop tutoring until around dinner time, so May offered to let Liz stay over for dinner. Much to Peter's surprise, she accepted.

May handed Peter a twenty, and told them to pick up some takeout.

"Good luck, Pete." May winked.

The teenager made a face at her. "May-!"

"Call me when you guys get there!" May called out as the two left the apartment.

Liz and Peter walked in silence for a moment, before the popular girl said, "Your aunt is nice."

Peter side-eyed her. "Uh…yeah…."

"Is that why you stay with her?" Liz continued.

The brunette stiffened. "Why are you asking?"

Liz shrugged. "I'm curious. I didn't know that you didn't live with your parents."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Liz, we've been in the same school since the second grade."

The black haired girl flushed. "So?"

Peter shrugged. "Nothing. Sorry, it's stupid that I...I kind just assumed that people knew that about me, but I guess not."

"Knew what?" Liz pressed.

The boy sighed. "I don't really like talking about this. No offense. It's hard to talk about."

Liz stiffened. "Oh…."

Peter shifted. "It's okay. I just...I don't feel comfortable talking about it."

"Oh." Liz repeated. She glanced around nervously. "Don't you ever get scared living here? I feel like we're about to get mugged or something."

"I grew up here." Peter shrugged. "It's just normal to me. Besides, I have this."

He held out his keys to reveal a small bottle of pepper spray.

Liz snorted. "Right. Like that's going to help if we're at gunpoint."

Peter shrugged. "Well, we'll just hurry before the sun goes down. And hey, if you get scared, we can call Aunt May to pick us up."

Liz punched his arm. "I'm not scared! You're the one who's scared!"

"Oh yes," Peter replied. "Look at me as I shake in terror."

Liz chuckled. Then she stared ahead. A thought seemed to occur to her, and she chewed her lip.

"….I'm having a lot of fun with you today." She admitted.

Peter side-eyed her. She seemed sincere.

"Yeah, I'm having fun, too." The boy admitted back.

Liz chewed her lip.

"Don't tell Flash I said that." She added quickly.

Peter snorted. "You think _me _of all people is just going to sit down and chat with Flash?"

Liz shrugged. "He gets jealous pretty easily. He wasn't even too happy that I was coming over to your place."

"Trust me, I am no threat to Flash Thompson, and he will never see me as one." The brunette shrugged. "Quite the opposite, actually."

Liz opened and closed her mouth. Than she stared ahead again. "Right…."

Peter glanced at her again.

He was really surprised with how the situation was going. Besides the couple of insults that she threw his way, Liz Allen…She wasn't actually that bad.

Not that Peter thought that they were going to end up being best buds or something. He supposed that it was just…nice to be wrong about someone.

"Here we are." Peter said. He pointed to the pizza parlor, and he opened the door for her. "Do you like pineapple on your pizza?"

Liz nodded.

"Cool, you're not a boring person, than." Peter replied, with a bit of a smile.

Liz rolled her eyes. "I like what I like. That whole, 'You're a sinner if you like pineapple on your pizza' stuff is stupid."

Peter laughed. "It's a joke. It's not like people actually mean it."

"My friends make fun of me for it all the time." Liz huffed.

Peter closed the door behind them. "Mine do, too!"

The two approached the back of the line. They joked around for a little bit, before Peter's phone started to ring.

"Oh, that might be May." Peter said as he fished out his phone. He froze when he saw the caller ID. "Shiiiiitttt, I forgot that she was going to call me."

"'She'? What, you have a girlfriend or something?" Liz tipped his phone towards her, and frowned. "Gwen Stacy? That sick girl?"

"Yeah, she's one of my friends." Peter gulped. "I'll just tell her that I'm busy. She can yell at me all she wants later."

Liz snickered. "Gwen seems so nice. What on earth did you do to piss her off?"

Peter glanced at her. He was tempted to tell her the story, but realized that she was probably going to think that it's stupid, or that he was super lame for liking video games.

So, instead, he said, "It's kind of stupid. Don't worry about it."

"Oh." Liz replied. She glanced at her own phone. "Okay, then."

The two paused for a moment as they looked at their phones (Peter texted his aunt instead of calling). After a few moments, they were called to make an order.

"It shouldn't take too long for them to make it." Peter commented as they sat down. "They're usually pretty fast here."

Liz nodded. She chewed on the inside of her cheeks, and frowned at her phone. "My dad wants to pick me up at seven thirty."

Peter nodded. He checked the time. "Okay. If thing's take too long, I'll just ask May to pick us up-"

His spider sense tingled slightly.

Peter froze, and looked up.

Liz frowned at him. "Are you alright?"

"Hm?" The brunette's eyes darted around. "Yeah, fine, great."

There was no one there that was making his senses tingle.

"Peter? Is something wrong? You're acting all…twitchy."

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine. Everything's fine." Peter tapped his fingers nervously. "I just…I think I forgot to do my laundry, is all."

Liz furrowed her eyebrows. "Right…."

Their order was called.

Peter quickly grabbed it. Liz frowned at him as he rushed towards the door, but followed him anyways.

"What is wrong with you?" She asked, as she jogged to catch up with him.

"Nothing. I'm just...I'm scared. Of the dark. And it's getting dark soon."

Liz eyed him suspiciously. She opened her mouth to respond, but Peter's spider senses sent shivers down his spine.

He grabbed her arm, and they both stopped.

"What? What are you doing?" Liz demanded.

Peter glanced around nervously.

"Seriously? What is up with you? You're creeping me…out?..."

The pair froze as a floating orb of blue light drifted slowly towards them from up above. The two of them gaped at it.

'_Okay,' _Peter thought. '_That's really weird. But it isn't what's making my spidey-sense go off….'_

"What is that?" Liz gasped.

"Something that we should probably ignore." Peter replied.

The glowing orb began to move.

Liz gripped his arm. "Let's follow it!"

Peter blanched. "Are you crazy? You seriously want to follow the glowing blue orb of doom?"

"Stop being dramatic! It might lead us to something interesting." Liz let go of him, and began to follow it.

'_For a girl who was so afraid of getting mugged, she seems surprisingly calm about this!'_

Peter jogged up to her. "Liz, this is a terrible idea!"

"Grow a pair, Parker. It's just a glowing ball."

"Yeah! The orb from the TomSki video was _also _just a glowing ball-_A glowing ball that could shoot lasers and warp reality!"_

Liz huffed. "Ah, c'mon, Peter. Haven't you ever wanted to go on an adventure? Like in the movies?"

"You mean in the movies where all the side characters die? Liz, I am the most side-character of side characters!"

"We're not going to die."

"You don't know that!"

Peter felt like ripping his hair out. But Liz refused to listen, and he had a feeling that she was similar to MJ in that regard.

It wasn't until the orb led them to a dock where a thought occurred to Peter. He grabbed Liz's arm, and tugged her behind a large thing of crates (it should be, at this point, where it should be noted that the food was ditched in an alleyway).

"You know," He whispered. "That alien invasion wasn't too long ago."

Liz frowned at that. "So?"

"So," Peter said. "What if this is a trap? To, you know, lore stupid humans, like us?"

Liz's eyebrows furrowed. It was clear that she never thought of that.

Peter gripped her arm. "Let's just go, Liz. Let's go back to my apartment, and tell the police that-"

His spider senses went off.

He paused.

"Peter?" Liz asked. "Peter, you're making that weird face again-"

He shushed her.

The sounds of footsteps shuffled throughout the empty dock. The teenagers exchanged looks.

"It's probably a security guard." Liz whispered.

"Or whoever sent that orb." Peter whispered back.

The footsteps got closer. Peter held his breath, hoping beyond hope that this person would just pass them. His spider-sense screamed at him to run.

Suddenly, the footsteps paused.

A voice called out, "Hello, Peter Parker."

The pair froze.

The voice continued, "I know that you're there. There's no point hiding."

Peter glanced at Liz. He mouthed, 'Stay here.' before revealing himself.

And revealing the person.

The teenager's mouth dropped at the sight of the man who was making his spider-senses go haywire.

He wore the most ridiculous costume Peter had ever seen. A green and purple outfit, with a long cape, and he was wearing a…a _fishbowl, _of all things, for a helmet!

Honestly, Peter would have laughed if it weren't for the fact that he and Liz were in danger.

"Now, where's your friend, Pete?" Fish-Bowl Guy asked. "The one you were running around with?"

Peter gulped. '_This dude's been spying on me.'_

"She's gone." Peter replied hoarsely. "She ran away."

"And you didn't?"

The teenager gulped. "What do you want?"

"Oh, just to chat," The man replied. "Lovely night, isn't it? The stars sure look bright-Well, they would, if there was no light pollution. Humans sure like to ruin the best of nature in the name of innovation, don't we? Walk with me, Peter."

The teenager didn't move.

Fish-Bowl Man sighed. "Look, Pete. I know that that girl is still here. And I really don't want to do this, but if you don't behave, I'll have no choice but to attack her. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Peter exhaled sharply. "I barely know her. Please, sir, we're not even friends-"

"Does it matter?" He swore, the guy was smirking under his fishbowl. "Just do as I say, and you won't have to force my hand."

Peter stared at him in distrust.

"It's only you I'm after," The man continued. "I'd rather not involve innocent civilians, if I could. Really, if you only participate, she's free to go."

The teenager nodded. "Fine. But if you hurt her in anyway-"

"Relax." The man replied. He gestured for Peter to follow, so he did.

Neither of them spoke for a minute. All Peter could focus on was whether or not Liz had taken advantage of the situation, and ran away. God, he hoped so. He couldn't imagine her not doing so.

Afterall, an afternoon of hanging out didn't make the pair best friends or anything. They were still complete strangers, for the most part. He couldn't imagine her sticking around. Hopefully, she was at a safe distance, calling '911'.

"I've always liked the ocean." The fish-bowl guy suddenly said.

Peter stiffened. "Oh."

"Yes." The fish-bowl guy nodded (or at least, the fish bowl bobbed a little). "Ever since I was a child. I loved the mystery of the ocean. You know, humans barely know anything about the ocean. Seventy percent of it remains undiscovered."

'_Yeah, okay, thanks for telling me about your precious childhood memory, you potentially murderous creep!'_

They continued onto an empty dock, which immediately made Peter feel uneasy.

"The ocean is also good at getting rid of trash," The guy continued. "I'm not such a fan of that aspect, but humanity has been dumping garbage in the ocean for years. Nuclear waste, plastic bottles, sunken ships…Crashing planes…."

Peter stiffened.

"You could imagine that I'm not such a fan of all that."

"Is this a lecture on environmental science?" Peter asked stiffly. "Because I already took that course."

The Fish-Bowl guy chuckled. "No, this is no class on anything. I'm simply monologuing."

"Oh."

They paused at the edge of the dock.

"Want to know a secret, Peter?"

"Not really."

"There is a certain type of trash that I don't mind the ocean taking. Want to know what type that is?"

"I think I'm good…"

"_Human _trash." The man paused. "Trash like…I don't know…Richard Parker, for example?"

Peter immediately stiffened.

"Ah, yes, Peter Parker," His spider-senses went off. "I don't mind if trash like you or your father gets thrown in the ocean at all."

The man suddenly pushed him.

Peter could have stopped the push. It would have been easy. But he was in shock.

Something he couldn't do, however, was stay on the dock. His shoes were on, so his sticking power was completely useless. And another thing he couldn't do: Thermoregulate.

Despite the warm weather of the approaching summer, the ocean refused to remain any temperature that wasn't 'freezing your butt off' cold. So, as soon as Peter landed in the ocean, his body immediately numbed up.

He held his breath, and tried to swim upwards. The cold was making it hard for him to move, so it felt like he was trying to swim through molasses rather than water.

Peter struggled for ten seconds. He was losing air, and he was losing air fast. He was pretty certain that he was going to die, which sucked, because he never got to build a rocket that was strong enough to last on Jupiter, like he always dreamed of doing. Or joining the Avengers. Or going to college. Or even trying bubble tea.

He was just about to make a mental farewell to his friends and May, when the water shifted.

The teenager blinked his sluggish eyes, and realized that there was someone approaching him. The person grabbed his arm, and pushed them both upwards. The two quickly reached the surface, just as Peter had taken a large gulp of salt water.

As soon as they broke through, Peter gagged and coughed. He felt himself being dragged somewhere, so he decided that now was the time to see who saved him.

It was Liz.

Peter coughed out salt water in surprise.

"What were you thinking?" Liz shrieked as she dragged them towards a ladder. "Following a supervillain into danger, like that? Are you absolutely insane?"

"Is-is h-he go-gone?" Peter shivered.

"He disappeared the second that he pushed you! Oh, you are so lucky that I'm in the swim team, or you'd be dead right now!"

Peter's brain felt numb. "Th-thought y-you we-were a ch-cheerl-leader."

Liz huffed. "Is this really the time to-You know what, never mind! Let's just get you home."

Peter jerked slightly. "No-no! Ca-can't tell Aunt May! She-she'll wo-worry!"

"Uh, yeah! Cause she's your parent! Will you climb the damn ladder? It's freezing!"

The frozen teen numbly pawed his hands against the ladder. His fingers felt thick and numb. It wasn't until they both got on the dock where Peter stuttered out, "He-he knew my da-dad."

Liz winced. She looked a little awkward. "Ye-yeah. I heard."

They paused.

"Don-don't tell anyone."

The girl's eyes widened. "Are you kidding me? There's a supervillain after you!"

Peter shivered. "He-About my d-dad-he sa-said…."

He shuddered.

Liz studied him. A tired expression flickered on his face.

"You knew what he was talking about, don't you?" She said.

"No-not com-completely." Peter admitted. He shuddered again, and shakily stood up. "I ha-have a gu-guess. Bu-but this is ab-about my da-dad, s-so, I need-need to-This is my-Pl-please, L-Liz, don't te-tell anyone about this."

Liz studied him. She sighed. "I'll think about it."

Peter had a feeling that that was all he was going to get.

Liz checked her phone, and cursed. "Broken. Looks like we're walking."

Peter shivered.

Liz glanced at him. "How exactly are you going to explain to your aunt why we're soaking-"

Above them, thunder clapped.

The two jumped.

"Tha-that mi-might help." Peter stuttered.


	4. Chapter 8

The rest of the weekend was spent in complete paranoia. Peter refused to leave the apartment for anything that didn't have to do with Spider-Man. It clearly concerned Aunt May, and Peter had no good excuse to give for it besides, 'My anxiety is acting up.'

'_Peter Parker had never had a murder attempt on his life before.' _Spider-Man shakily thought as he swung around Manhattan. '_Why would he? He's a completely normal kid. But he wasn't after me for me, was he?'_

It was the same song and dance all Saturday night and Sunday. Peter trying to calculate why, oh why this man would be after him, and he came to the same conclusion each time:

'_He knows about the sample.' _

Spider-Man clenched his jaw. He really, really hated that conclusion.

'_But if he wants it so badly, why would he kill me? Wouldn't he want it for some villianish stuff?' _Spidey landed on the building across from Avengers Mansion. He stared at it. '_Unless he __**wants **__the secret to die. Which begs the question: Why?'_

'_Also,' _He crouched to the ground. '_He clearly seemed to have a bad grudge against my dad. Why? Who is this guy?'_

The teenager squinted at the Mansion.

'_I should tell the Avengers. They would know what to do, and they'd be able to protect me. Even if Fish-Bowl doesn't know that I'm still alive, it's better to be safe than sorry, right?'_

Peter had a sudden urge to chew his fingernails. His thoughts drifted to a memory, dull and fuzzy.

An image of his father, who Peter only remember from pictures alone, asking Peter to promise not to tell anyone. And five year old Peter making that promise.

It made him squeamish. '_But can I break the last promise I made to Dad?'_

Spider-Man gulped.

'_It doesn't matter.' _He stood up. '_Liz is okay. Fish-Bowl thinks I'm dead. Dad's secret is safe. As long as I'm careful, everything should be fine.'_

From the distance, he could hear sirens. Spider-Man edged closer to the roof's end.

'_I should check in on that.' _He thought.

He felt himself relax, as he jumped off the building and swung away from his troubles.

Who would have thought that fighting someone with a loaded weapon could be more therapeutic than sitting around and thinking about your problems? (1)

The following day, Peter was late, per usual. He woke up an entire forty minutes after his alarm went off.

He barely had time to eat breakfast or shower that morning, so instead of his messy, dark hair being manageably messy, it was now cowlicked and slightly knotty. He even managed to forget his glasses, like an idiot.

It was when he was basically running out of his building when he realized that he wasn't going to make it.

Peter's eyes darted his wrist.

'_I could get there in half the time if I webbed to school...'_

'_And when people find out that Spider-Man goes to Midtown High, you'll enjoy the countless interruptions of some idiot trying to attack the school in order to find you!'_

The teenager sighed. He had a feeling that that day wasn't going to be a good day.

'_I hate being right!' _

Peter grunted as he was shoved against a locker. He glanced up at Flash Thompson, who was glaring at him viciously.

"I got a bone to pick with you, Parker." He hissed.

The shorter teenager squirmed uncomfortably. There was a locker hinge digging right into his shoulder blade.

"Liz didn't text me _all _weekend!" Flash growled. "Mind explaining what went on between you and Liz?"

When Peter didn't answer fast enough, Flash pushed him closer to the lockers. The hinge digged deeper into Peter's shoulder making him hiss in pain.

"Answer me, midget!" The bully demanded.

"Biology finals!" Peter bursted out. "We were studying!"

"You think that I'd ever believe that?!" Flash exclaimed. "Do I look like an idiot to you?!"

Peter searched desperately for a teacher. Someone who was late to class, like he was. Anyone! But it was just him and Flash.

Just him and Flash.

Peter's hands formed into fists.

"Has it occured to you," Peter replied coldly. "That maybe Liz didn't want to talk to you?"

Flash froze. "Excuse me?"

"She's your girlfriend, not your toddler!" Peter snapped. "If she wants some space, than give her some space!"

Flash blinked. His eyes seemed to glaze over, and he thought about that insult. Then, he raised his fist.

Peter was ready for it. Ohhhhh, Peter had been ready for it since he first entered the school system, and had to deal with this dickwad all his life. He just had to wait for Flash to make the first move and-

'_With great power,' _A voice suddenly whispered to him. '_Comes great responsibility.'_

Peter's eyes widened. His spider-sense went off. He relaxed his fist.

"Flash!"

The fist paused.

The two glanced at Liz Allen, who looked very annoyed.

Flash lowered his fist.

"What are you doing out of class?" He demanded.

Liz swallowed. She made a face, like she was forcing a dumbed down expression.

"You weren't there." She said softly. "I just wanted to know where you were."

Flash didn't budge. "I wanted to ask Parker how tutoring was going?"

"Why didn't you ask me?" Liz asked. "You know that I would have told you everything."

The bully huffed. "You weren't answering your phone all weekend."

"My phone fell into the bathtub, Flash." She smiled stupidly.

Flash finally let go of Peter. "Show me."

"Can we do it after school? I don't have it with me right now."

Flash growled. "Fine. But it better actually be broken. If I find out that you were with Parker, than I'll-"

"'Were with'-" Liz's eyes darted to Peter, like it was the first time that she noticed him. Her expression went from stupid to sly. "You think I'd ever hang out with a _loser _like Parker? You've got to be kidding me, Flash."

Peter blanched. Flash seemed to be thinking that over. He flicked Peter's nose.

"Yeah," Flash grumbled. "A loser."

They walked off together.

Peter thought that that would be the end of it, Liz would pretend like they were never friendly to each other. That would be it. But she surprised him, once again, by glancing at him and mouthing, 'We need to talk.'

The superpowered teenager rubbed his nose as he watched them walk away. He wasn't quite sure if he could think anything about the situation besides, '_Okay?'_

No, wait, he had another question.

'_What the fu-?"_

"Gwen's pissed at you."

"Hm?" It took a minute for Peter to realize that someone was talking to him.

It was Harry.

"Gwen's pissed at you." He whispered, as he frowned at his worksheet. "She said that you keep ignoring her calls."

"Oh." Peter frowned at the vocab words.

Harry studied Peter for a moment. He tapped a sentence on his paper.

"That's not what 'candid' means."

"What?"

"You got that wrong."

"Oh. Thanks, man."

"No prob."

And they kind of left it at that. It was something Peter liked about Harry, he didn't push Peter to talk about stuff.

The pair waited a moment before Peter asked him how his weekend was.

Harry stiffened. He stared hard at his paper.

"Dad asked me about you."

Peter chewed his pencil. "He shouldn't be focused on me. I'm not his kid."

"Yeah, well, he clearly wants you to be." Harry muttered.

The shorter teenager glanced at his friend, completely sympathetic. He patted Harry's shoulder, who immediately winced.

Peter froze.

"Is he still home?" He whispered.

Harry shook his head. He was staring very sternly at his paper, his eyes clearly watering.

"Want to stay over?" Peter mumbled.

Harry immediately nodded.

"Osborn! Parker!" Their teacher called out. "Am I going to have to separate the two of you?"

The pair exchanged looks, and shook their heads.

"Than be quiet!"

"Sorry, ma'am!" Peter replied.

"Sorry." Harry muttered.

"You sure it's okay if I stay over?" Harry asked as the pair walked to Peter's locker.

"Yeah, I cleared it up with my aunt." Peter shifted uncomfortably. "I feel bad. Inviting you, but not Eddie."

Harry glanced at him, then shrugged. "Eddie's a big boy. Plus, you were pretty busy last weekend. Just ask if he wants to stay over this week."

"Good idea-"

Suddenly, a door to an empty classroom burst open and a hand grabbed Peter's shoulder. He was immediately yanked in.

"Pete!?" Harry yelped.

When Peter glanced around, he was surprised to see Liz.

"Oh, hey!" He exclaimed.

Liz eyed Harry, who rushed into the classroom after them.

"Er…Is this about tutoring?" Peter asked.

"You know what this is about, Peter." Liz replied. "Look, I don't have a lot of time, Flash is waiting for me, so…"

She eyed Harry again. When she realized that he wasn't going to leave, she sighed.

"Tell me about what happened on Saturday." She said. "Who was that man? Why did he know your dad?"

Peter stiffened.

Harry frowned. "What man?"

"It was nothing." Peter lied poorly.

Liz glared at him. "Isn't this guy one of your best friends, or something?"

"Well…yeah…."

"Okay, than I'm telling him what happened."

"Liz, no!"

"What happened?" Harry looked alarmed.

"It doesn't matter!" Peter exclaimed lamely.

"It doesn't matter that someone tried to kill you?"

"I-"

A large hand landed on Peter's shoulder. Peter glanced at his friend, who had gone completely pale.

"Peter." Harry muttered sternly. "What happened? What aren't you telling me?"

Peter stiffened. He rubbed his face. "This isn't…This doesn't concern you! Niether of you!"

Liz crossed her arms. "'Scuse me? Not only was I a witness to what happened, I saved your sorry butt. So, you better give me a good explanation about what happened, or I'm going to go to the police!"

The teenager stiffened. He glanced nervously from his best friend to the popular girl.

"I-I-" He sighed. "Look, what I say, it can't leave this room."

Harry and Liz exchanged looks.

"Alright." Harry said.

Liz crossed her arms. "Fine."

Peter glanced around nervously. He decided that the best place to stare at while he explained was the window.

"My….my dad." Peter started. "He...he was a biologist. In…like…a lot of fields."

Harry nodded. "He worked at Oscorp at some point."

"Yeah." Peter replied. He swayed nervously. "Look, I don't know everything that's going on. In fact, I barely know the bare minimum. But from what I understand, this guy knew my dad for some reason. That's basically it."

Liz frowned. "Okay, than. Why are you so afraid of going to the police, then?"

"I'm not afraid!"

"You are literally shaking right now."

Peter glanced down at his hands. Sure enough, they were shaking.

"Because," He tucked them in his pocket. He wasn't sure how he could explain this without revealing too much. Especially since his explanation was pretty ridiculous.

He didn't want anyone to know the truth, not only because he wanted to keep the sample out of anyone's hands, but also because it was the last promise he made to his dad.

It was...stupid not to go to the police, especially since his life was on the line. But...It wasn't just that. Peter could take care of himself. He was Spider-Man, after all. But he wanted to figure this out, this mystery that was Richard Parker. And he didn't want police interference. No, he wanted and _needed _to do it himself.

A part of him knew that it was stupid. That he should let the police do their job. But hey, as Spider-Man, wasn't he already doing police work, in a way, albeit, vigilantism?

"Because, this is my dad that we're talking about," Peter replied slowly. "And I...I need to find out what happened. Who this guy was, what did my dad did to make him hate him so much? Stuff like that…."

"The police can help you with that." Liz replied dryly.

"No, they're going to say that I'm a stupid kid who has no business interferring with police business!"

"Probably because _you are _a stupid kid with no business interferring with police business!"

"Uh...Pete?" Harry interrupted.

The two glanced at him.

Harry shifted awkwardly. "I...Your dad worked at Oscorp. So...I could help you. Look into stuff, I mean."

Peter stiffened. "I...I can't ask you to do that, Harry."

The taller boy shrugged. "You're my friend, Peter. What are friends for?"

Liz shook her head slowly. A thought seemed to occur to her.

"Can I talk to Peter alone, for a second?" Liz asked Harry.

Harry frowned.

The shorter teen tucked his hands in his pockets. "It's okay, Harry. I need to talk to Liz about something."

He eyed them warily, before nodding. The pair didn't speak, until the door was closed.

Liz turned to Peter, a weird expression on her face. She studied Peter for a moment.

"You knew that that man was following us." She said slowly. "That's why you were acting so funny."

Peter immediately stiffened. "No I didn't."

Liz opened her mouth to reply. Another thought seemed to occur to her. She closed it.

"I'm helping."

"What?"

"I want to help figure out what happened with your dad."

Peter immediately shook his head. "No. Liz, no! Absolutely not! I can't let you-"

"Be involved?" Liz raised an eyebrow. "I think we moved past the 'Don't be involved part' the second I decided to follow that orb thingy. Besides, this'll be payback for tutoring."

The two stared at each other for a moment.

Finally, Peter looked away.

"Flash…." He muttered.

Liz stiffened. "Right. I need to go-"

"He was treating you really weird." Peter continued. "Does he always...act like that around you?"

Liz stiffened. She glared at Peter. "I'm not talking about this."

"Wait, Liz-"

"I've got a handle on the situation. Stop worrying about it." Liz huffed, and began to sashay away. "We'll have a meeting/tutoring session tomorrow night or something."

"I have work." Peter muttered.

"Than we'll do it after you work." Liz replied.

"Wait...Uh...Liz?" Peter reached out to touch her shoulder. Then he quickly put it down. "I...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you about that."

"About what?" She narrowed her eyes.

Peter swayed nervously.

Liz sighed. "Whatever, Peter. Just don't talk about it again."

And she walked off.

Peter stared at the door for a moment.

That felt like a confirmation, in his mind, that Liz and Flash weren't in a healthy relationship. He couldn't know for sure, of course, and he definitely couldn't say anything about it to her. Afterall, he didn't know her well enough to comment on it. And to be perfectly honest, Peter probably shouldn't have said anything at all.

He just...he never knew how to respond to those types of situations. He really wanted to do something, but he wasn't quite sure what, exactly….

"Peter?" Harry entered the room. "You ready?"

Peter glanced at his friend. "Yeah, sorry. Just thinking."

He followed his friend out of the classroom, and they walked silently to his locker. After he got all of his stuff, the pair walked to the subway in silence.

It was halfway to their stop, when Harry turned to Peter, and said, "You know, you should really go call Gwen, right?"

Peter sighed. "I know! I will!"

The author does not advocate for fighting people with loaded weapons in order to deal with problems. In fact, she does not advocate for fighting people at all, let alone fighting people with dangerous weapons. Please consult a therapist if you are struggling with anything.


	5. Chapter 9

In the US, there were three large tech companies that were in constant competition with each other:

Stark Industries, which, after a quick fall in the stock market slowly began to climb back up the ranks with their new innovative, and more importantly, nonlethal merchandise.

The third most well known company was called, 'Hammer Tech' (Peter didn't have much interest in Hammer Tech. Sure, some of their stuff looked pretty neat, but it was clearly just their version of Stark products that had an 'HT' logo glued on). While not as popular as Stark Industries, Hammer Tech's potential as a company increased thanks to SI leaving the weapons-making business. That left Hammer Tech in competition with the second most revered company, Oscorp.

Run by Norman Osborn, Oscorp was the harshest of the three companies. Human rights violations were rumored, but unproven, thanks to the size of Mr. Osborn's bank account. Things that would stain other companies and place their CEO's into prison have been white-outed of Oscorp's reputation. Norman Osborn was living proof that with enough money and power, the law was optional.

And that was why Harry Osborn could never get the help he needed.

Peter wasn't quite sure when he realized that Norman Osborn didn't treat his son the way Uncle Ben treated his nephew. Normy had a tendency to be hypercritical to a nauseating degree. He'd belittle every small thing that Harry did. He'd treat Peter with kindness and respect, than turn to Harry, and ask him why he wasn't like Peter.

Harry never responded or fought back. He'd just stare at the floor, clearly believing every word that his father said to him.

Peter especially wasn't sure when things started to get physical. When exactly did Harry start wearing long sleeves, and wincing when he moved sometimes? Was it around when he started gaining weight from the stress of it?

The brunette wasn't sure. All he did know was that even with all his powers, there wasn't anything he could do to help Harry except to be his friend.

There was no one Peter could report the abuse to. An underfunded government program like CPS could only do so much against a rich billionaire. School guidance counselors were out of the question, since they were obligated to report on stuff like that. A therapist?

Good old Normy didn't believe in mental health.

Harry never got the help he needed when his mother died. He never got the help he needed as he constantly dealt with the monster he had to call 'father'.

Instead, the taller of the pair simply had to wait until he was eighteen. The two had already planned everything. They were both saving their money for an apartment. May said that they could both stay in the Parker residence until they had enough money for everything they needed.

'_Harry will be free in three more years.' _That's always what Peter thought to himself whenever he helped patch up any cuts Harry might have received while his father stayed over. He clenched his jaw as he studied one particularly big gash. '_Won't need any stitches, thank god.'_

Harry, in the meantime, was staring at the wall in front of them with a blank expression. His dark eyes looked duller than usual. He didn't say a word as Peter worked, and chances were, he wouldn't until Peter was done.

So, the pair were silent as Peter bandaged his arm. He didn't ask Harry any questions. At this point, he knew that Harry wouldn't answer them anyways.

"I'm spending my entire summer with him."

Peter paused. He glanced at his friend, who had paled considerably.

"We're going to Japan together." He muttered. "I...We're going to Kyoto. My mom grew up there, you know."

Peter nodded.

Harry stared at the floor.

"The guy," He said suddenly. "Was there…did he give any specific reason why he tried to...tried to…."

The shorter teenager finished up. "Just had an agenda against my dad, I guess."

Harry's eyes darted to Peter. He knew immediately that Peter was hiding something, but he didn't call him out on it.

"You almost died, Pete." Harry muttered. "You almost died and ...God…."

Guilt immediately attacked Peter's soul. He didn't think how him dying would affect Harry. Peter, MJ, Gwen, and Eddie were all that Harry had, in terms of a family. What would have Harry done if he lost one of his family members?

Peter sighed. "I shouldn't have let Liz tell you."

Harry shook his head. "No...No. I needed to know. I...want to help. Like Liz does. I want to help."

The dark haired teenager eyed his friend. Than he tossed Harry his shirt back.

The taller teenager accepted it, and slipped it on.

"Are...are you going to tell the others?" Harry asked.

"Aunt May doesn't even know." Peter walked to his bathroom to wash his hands. He kept both doors open as he did so. "Besides, those three are the most impulsive people I have ever met. Could you even imagine what they'd do if they found out?"

Harry eyed him as he returned to the room. "Uh...call the cops, like normal people?"

Peter sighed.

Harry shifted. "Look man, why not ...Okay, you're going to hate me for suggesting this, but why not ask your dad to help you?"

Peter stiffened. "My dad...who's dead?"

"You know who I'm talking about." Harry replied.

The brunette tugged at his hair. "I….He never even ...It's almost been a month, and he hasn't said a word to me. I...I don't see a point in bugging him, yet."

Harry tugged nervously on his shirt. "You know...I've met Tony Stark before. Like...before and after Afghanistan. It was like meeting twin brothers, or something. He was a completely different person, you know? Like...he's a better person. I think he could help you."

A bitter expression flickered on Peter's face.

"Cool, let's toss old Normy to that cave for a few months, than! Maybe that'll-" Peter paused when he noted Harry's cringe. He winced. "I….Sorry, man. I didn't mean that….Like that."

Harry shrugged. He didn't look too pleased with Peter's comment, and Peter couldn't blame him in the slightest.

"Tony's cool." Harry continued. "I think….I think he could help."

Peter stared out the window. "No...That would involve Iron-Man and the Avengers. And that's _worse _than the police interfering."

Harry sighed. He shifted. "Look, man, I get why you're doing this. Why you want to do it yourself. And if it was me, and I'd probably feel similar to how you feel. But this isn't me. This is you. So I say, you should tell someone."

Peter blinked blankly at Harry. "I have no clue what you just said, but I sense hypocrisy, and I do not appreciate it."

"Dude! I-" Harry rubbed his face with his hand. "Look, I-This isn't a game, man. Your life is in danger. And yeah, I'm offering my help, and I will help you, since you're my best friend and stuff, but...What if you get yourself killed? What than?"

Peter stared at his door. "I'll just have to find out who this guy is before he gets a chance to kill me."

The taller teenager huffed. "Pete, you're being unrealistic."

'_No, I'm not.' _Peter stared at his hands. '_I just can't tell you all the details. If that guy wasn't threatening me with Liz's life, he'd be toast.'_

"Peter, I just….I'm scared of losing you." Harry admitted. "You're my best friend. If you...if you died….."

His eyes began to water.

Peter felt alarmed, and he immediately wrapped an arm around his friend.

"That's not going to happen." The teenager promised. "You're stuck with me until we're both old and gray. Got that, bud?"

Harry sniffled in response. "You better! We're supposed to be roommates when our spouses die and our children abandon us to some retirement home!"

The pair hugged.

Peter chewed his lip.

'_I'm doing the right thing.' _He told himself. '_I made a promise, and I'm going to keep it.'_

It took awhile for Harry to fall asleep, meaning it took awhile until Peter could go out for patrol.

He listened carefully to Harry's soft breathing before carefully crawling out of bed. He grabbed his backpack and gently opened up his window.

Checking the lock, he closed it silently before taking off.

Spider-Man swept through the city, making sure that he was a good distance from the apartment before shouting, "WAAAAHOOOOOOO!"

He swung from building-to-building, and with each stride he made, he felt the metaphorical tension drip out from his shoulders.

The webhead passed building after building, aiming for the tallest one in the area. Once he did so, he landed on a flagpole and closed his eyes.

'_Just let go.' _Peter told himself. '_Just a little. Don't let yourself get sick…again.'_

He furrowed his eyebrows, and focused on slowly allowing his senses to take over. His ears pricked as the city became louder. Peter gulped nervously as he began to feel it. The city, that is.

The vibrations of his city slowly appeared behind his eyelids.

Sweat began to pour down Peter's face as he made sure to not allow himself to feel the vibrations too much. Just that little nibble.

After a moment, he felt a fuzzy outline of the city. He couldn't discern too much. He couldn't make himself do anymore, since this alone felt pretty overwhelming.

Spider-Man took a deep breath, and tried to pick up any disturbances throughout the city. As it turned out, when you live in a megacity, the question is not 'How many disturbances can I find?', but more like, 'What isn't a disturbance?'.

Peter gagged, and closed his mind door shut with a SLAM!

'_Well, that was a bust. Guess we're doing this the old fashioned way.'_

Spider-Man jumped off the flagpole. He allowed himself to freefall for a second before webbing a building to his left. He did a quick search of the alleyways, trying to find an activity that might keep him busy. So far, all the crooks seemed disinterested in crooking that night.

Peter sighed. '_Great, another bust! I should just go home-'_

His eyes darted to something.

Spider-Man grinned to himself and turned around.

He landed silently on a rooftop, as he watched two men muttering to each other.

"_-I'm just saying, Marco! The Avengers are out of it tonight! We have free reign over the city!"_

Under his mask, Peter's grin grew.

Flint Marco huffed. "_The Avengers? You think I'm worried about the Avengers?"_

"_What? What are you afra-" _The unrecognizable voice laugh. "_Wait, don't tell me-Spider-Man? Is that who you're afraid of?"_

"_Me? Afraid of that brat?" _Marco growled. "_I ain't afraid of him! I'd wring his scrawny neck if I could!"_

"'_If'?" _The other voice mocked. "_Just do it, man. I heard that Spider-Man ain't nothing but a little brat, anyways. What could a little kid do to us?"_

Marco shook his head. "_You don't understand, Gargon. The kid's one of those freaks! A-"_

Spider-Man gasped. The crooks jumped, and spun around.

"Flint!" The webhead cried out dramatically. "How could you say that? After all that we've been through!"

Marco blanched.

The new guy, Gargon, was very tall and very muscular. He examined Spider-Man's upside-down form, and smirked.

"God, the boys' weren't kidding." The man sneered. "You're nothing but a little kid playing dress up!"

Spider-Man snorted.

Gargon pulled out a knife, and advanced towards Peter.

"Oh no! Not the knife!" Spidey exclaimed as he webbed Gargon's hand to the wall. "Anything but the knife!"

Gargon's shocked expression was something that Peter would treasure for the rest of his life.

"What is this?!" He shouted.

Marco back away. "I told you! He's one of them mutants!"

"Hey!" Spider-Man let go of the web and landed in front of Marco. "I prefer the term 'superhuman'! Who do you think you are, assuming my species like that!"

Marco looked like he was seconds from running away.

Gargon seemed to have realized that as well, because he shouted, "Flint! Don't you dare!"

But Flint Marco didn't have time to make a choice. A circular, metal disk beat him to it, and clumped him right on his chest.

Marco cried out in pain before being thrown to the ground. Spider-Man webbed him in that spot before he had the chance to recover.

Peter grinned as he picked up a familiar looking shield. He glanced at the rooftop that he used to spy on the two thieves, and sure enough, Captain America was there.

"Spider-Man." Cap greeted.

"Captain Rogers." The webhead greeted back as he glanced at the shield. "Oh! It's round again!"

Cap chuckled as he jumped to the ground. He landed gracefully for a burly man. "It took a lot for it to get to that point."

"Oh yeah! Your run in with that Vision guy!" Spider-Man handed Cap his shield. "It was all over the news! Oh, and that- that thing that happened this afternoon-"

"You mean how I lost my powers?" Cap smiled.

"Yeah! And how you guys destroyed a subway tunnel." Spidey cocked his head. "Is it true that Thor became a human for a quick second?"

Cap chuckled. "Yes. And Iron-Man lost his...intellect for a quick second as well."

Peter's smile dropped at the mention of his father.

"Oh." He replied awkwardly. "That must have been…funny?"

Spidey was pretty sure that Cap raised an eyebrow at that.

"We should call the police." Spider-Man changed the subject.

Cap nodded.

Peter tugged out his burner phone (he had yet to inform May that his cell phone took a dip in salt water) and left an anonymous tip. He and Cap waited on the rooftop before Spidey dropped his note. He waited to make sure that one of the police officers caught it, before he and Cap began to jump rooftops.

"So, what are you doing here, exactly?" Spidey called out as they jumped to one particularly short roof. "Shouldn't you-like-be resting or something?"

"Good never rests, son." Cap replied.

Spider-Man grinned. "Couldn't sleep either, huh?"

They paused on a UPS building.

"No." Cap admitted. "It's a school night for you, isn't it?"

Spidey scoffed. "I'm a college kid, Cap. I don't have a bedtime."

This time, Cap did raise an eyebrow. It was quite clear that he didn't believe him, which made Peter nervous.

"Be-besides," He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I have a lot to think about. A lot of things have happened to me. Too fast for me to really process."

"Oh?" Cap sat at the edge of the rooftop.

Spidey hesitated for a moment before settling next to the older man. "Yeah…lots of stuff. In my personal life, I mean."

There was a pause.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Cap offered.

'_Yes.' _

"It's okay. You seem to have a lot on your mind, too." Peter replied.

Cap chuckled. "I do, actually. But I've been told that I give pretty decent advice."

Spidey stayed silent.

Cap didn't push him, something Uncle Ben definitely wouldn't have done.

"We aren't sure who the Vision is working for." Cap said suddenly. "Makes me feel…antsy. I'm not sure if it's a new enemy or an older one. Not sure which one is worse."

"Older enemy. Is better, I mean." Peter stated immediately. "Least you know all their moves, and stuff. They stop surprising you."

Cap shook his head. "Not unless they change their strategy."

"But at the end of the day," Spidey replied. "It's still someone who you know. And hey, if you can't fight it out, you can still go out to dinner together and talk about your feelings, and stuff. I feel like you can get to that point when you've been enemies with someone for that long."

Cap chuckled. "Is that how you think supervillains work, son?"

"Probably?" The teenager shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't had a supervillian to call my own, yet."

Cap's joking smile immediately faded. He stared out into the distance. "I think you can wait a bit longer for that, Spider-Man."

"Oh, I definitely agree." Peter nodded. "Fighting the Serpine Society wasn't exactly a party."

The soldier smiled. Relief entered his face. "It isn't. Although, I'm sure members of my team might argue with you about that."

"The Hulk?" Spidey guessed.

"And Wasp." Captain America glanced at him. "Iron-Man, too."

Peter flinched.

Cap noticed. "You don't seem to like Tony that much, do you?"

Peter glanced at his feet. The seeds of doubt began to get watered.

"I don't know him well enough to make that type of call." Peter replied.

Cap didn't say anything for a moment. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Nope." Peter replied immediately. "I...What reason would I have to not like Tony Stark? I mean, I admired the dude since I first picked up a screwdriver."

Cap chuckled. "I'll make sure to tell him that."

'_Please don't.'_

Spidey decided to change the subject. "So, how did Thor react to being human?"

The super soldier definitely knew what Spider-Man was trying to do. But he allowed it anyways.

"Not well at first," Cap admitted. "But he got the swing of things before that situation was solved."

Spider-Man swung his feet. "You make it sound a lot less interesting than it probably is."

"Trust me, son, it was a lot less interesting than the papers tell it." Cap replied. He got up suddenly. "I should head back to the Mansion. And you should probably head back to bed."

Peter snorted. "Thanks, Dad, I'll make sure to brush my teeth, too-"

The two froze.

Under his mask, Peter's face was burning as red as his suit.

"I-Uh...What?...What I mean is….uh….." Peter stuttered.

Oh god, the shocked expression! Peter couldn't stand the shocked expression on the supersoldier's face.

"You know, you're right! I have work tomorrow, and classes-Ugh, so many classes! So-like-yeah, bye, good night, later!" Spider-Man babbled as he jumped onto the roof's edge. "B-bye!"

And with that, he jumped off the rooftop before Cap could get a word in.

**A/N: I keep forgetting to promote my tumblr. I'd make a bad businesswoman. **

**Anyways, it's avigayilrose. Check it out if you want to see re-blogs of cute animals...cause honestly, that's what I mostly do on tumblr. **

**Any who, thanks for reading, and have a great weekend, my fellow humans!**


	6. Chapter 10

'_Idiot!' _Peter flinched as the memory from the night before flickered in his mind. '_How could you possibly make that joke? Why did you think that that was a good idea? God Parker, you are the stupidest idiot in the history of the-'_

"Dude," Harry interrupted Peter's mental rant. "What did the eggs do to offend you that badly?"

The shorter teenager blinked slowly. He glanced down at his plate, and sure enough, his eggs had been smashed to bits.

"Nothing." Peter replied grumpily. "I'm just in a bad mood."

"Yeah, that's pretty clear, man." Harry replied, as he ate his eggs like a normal person. "What's up?"

"Bad dream." Which was true. Than again, Peter couldn't really remember the last time he had any good dreams.

The sounds of footsteps heading in their direction made Peter scarf down his eggs. Harry raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, I need to jet." May said as she entered their tiny kitchen. She kissed her nephew's cheek. "I left you two money for takeout. Please get something with vegetables, please."

"No promises." Peter replied.

May ruffled his hair (which was finally neat for once, after Harry nagged him for it. Apparently, the universe wanted Peter's hair to remain a mess). She did the same to Harry though, which he clearly didn't mind.

"Love you!" May called out before closing the door.

Harry turned to his eggs. "Your aunt is the best."

Peter smiled sadly at his friend. He finished his eggs and took both their plates to the sink. "What are you going to do while I work?"

Harry shrugged. "Homework? It's a Tuesday night, what else would I be doing?"

"TV?" Peter offered as he grabbed the frying pan. "Drugs? I don't know, normal teenager stuff, I guess."

Harry snorted. "You're one to talk, Mr. I'm-Too-Smart-For-Honors-Classes."

"Okay, I have never said that before in my entire life!"

The pair teased each other for a bit. Before they knew it, it was time to catch their train.

"Today isn't going to be a good day." Harry commented as the pair walked to his locker. "I can feel it."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Wow, that's reassuring."

"We have a math quiz today. I'm gonna fail."

"Oh, c'mon. I didn't tutor you last night for you to believe in failure."

"I'm sorry for wasting your time."

Peter opened his mouth to argue.

"Flirting in the middle of the hallway?" MJ said. "I knew the whole 'shy guy' routine you two had going on was an act."

The freckled brunette immediately blushed.

"We-well," Peter stuttered out, a joking smile on his face. "We can't hide our love from the world forever. Right, Harry?"

Mary Jane snorted. "And this is why everyone at school thinks that you guys are a couple."

"Huh. That's the reason?" Harry selected his English textbook. "I thought it was the hand holding during class."

Peter snorted.

"So, how was your guys' sleepover?" MJ asked as she leaned against a locker.

They both shrugged.

"Uneventful." Peter glanced at MJ, noting how pretty her hair looked that day. He quickly looked away. "We studied. We watched some TV. That's it."

Mary Jane adjusted her bag. "No work?"

"That's after school." Peter shrugged.

The trio walked to the brunette's locker.

"Oh, by the way, Gwen's going to kill you." MJ informed Peter.

Peter cursed. "Ugh! I knew I was forgetting something."

"I reminded you last night." Harry replied. "Twice. Just get it over with, man. The longer you wait, the angrier she'll get."

"Oh yeah." Mary Jane nodded. "Than she'll give you 'The Look'."

The trio shuddered at the thought of 'The Look'.

"Well, I need to see if I can revive my phone first, anyways." Peter huffed. "I don't exactly have her number memorized."

MJ raised an eyebrow. "'Revive your phone'?"

"Oh...right," Peter sent Harry a pleading look. "My phone fell in water. It's busted."

Mary Jane sighed. "You gotta be more careful, tiger."

"'Careful' isn't exactly something that's in Pete's vocabulary." Harry said. "I had to remind him to not forget his glasses this morning. Twice."

"'Twice'?" The redhead bumped Peter's shoulders. "How did you manage that? You're blind as a bat without your glasses."

Peter shrugged, his face turning warm at the sudden contact. "Cause I'm me, I guess."

MJ sighed as they entered their homeroom classroom. "Oh, and you're early, again. Maybe you and Harry should start dating. He keeps you more organized."

Peter's face immediately turned a brighter shade of red.

Harry laughed awkwardly. "That would be weird. Like….we've known each other for too long for that..."

"Yeah, too weird." Peter added.

MJ raised an eyebrow at the pair. She put her bag down. "K, well, I need to use the bathroom."

The pair waited until the door was closed.

"She doesn't notice…" Peter said.

"Are you kidding?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "She's MJ. She notices everything."

A gloomy expression flickered on Peter's face.

"Is it really that weird," He said slowly. "To like someone that you've known forever? Am I weird for liking her?"

Harry eyed him. "Dude, you're asking the wrong person. I don't know anything about dating."

Peter considered that. "Right. Sorry…."

He picked a splinter on his desk. "Maybe I should give up. I just...We've been best friends since we were four, and if me liking Mary Jane ruins that, than I should value my friendship…"

Harry shifted uncomfortable. "Are you going to tell her?"

"That I like her?"

"No, about...the guy?"

Peter stiffened. "We've been over this, Harry."

The taller one sighed. "Pete-"

But whatever Harry had to say, it had to be saved for later. Two students entered the classroom, and immediately went to separate desks.

Harry and Peter exchanged looks before Peter sat down.

It was when Peter was halfway through editing a Spider-Man pic (that featured Captain America) that it hit Peter: _He called Captain America 'dad'._

Peter groaned, and face planted into his desk.

The memory made him want to knock himself unconscious. At least than, he'd have the sweet relief of _not _having that memory pound into his skull.

After a moment, he realized that he looked like an idiot, so he continued working. Unfortunately, it was one of those days where ever cringe-inducing memory Peter ever had flickered in his mind.

Giving himself that haircut in sixth grade, Flash pushing him on stage during a Holocaust commeration assembly, accidentally getting snot all over that girl after coming back from the hospital in fifth grade…

Peter shook his head.

'_Focus on something else.' _He told himself, as he tried to not be angry at himself for all the embarrassing things he had done. '_Just...you'll avoid Cap from now on, and never talk to him again. Just finish the picture, and then you can bury yourself under a rock.'_

The teenager nodded to himself.

'_Only twenty five more minutes until your shift is over,' _He reminded himself. '_Than you can ask Mr. Robertson about the records….'_

"PARKER!"

'_Or not….'_

"What is this?" Jameson pointed to the picture on his computer. "I am paying you to take pictures, not photoshop them into oblivion!"

Peter gulped. "That's a real pic, Mr. Jameson. Honest! Captain America and Spider-Man were fighting some thieves on-"

"You really expect me to believe that some vigilante like Captain America would fight along-side a petty criminal like Spider-Man?" Spit flew from Jameson's mouth. "The Bugle only prints the truth! Now, get me some pictures of Spider-Man's hand in the cookie jar, or don't bother coming back into my office tomorrow!"

Peter nodded meekly. He waited until Jameson was gone, before biting his nails.

Ugh, he knew that Jameson wasn't actually firing him, but he wished he would stop saying stuff like that to him. Jameson knew that the Parkers needed this job, it was why Peter was able to work there as a fourteen year old.

Well, actually, it was mostly because Peter was the only person who could take pictures of Spider-Man, but that wasn't the point.

Sighing to himself, Peter scraped that picture (that he had been editing for hours), and mentally prepared himself for the overtime he would have to do in order to get that picture ready.

"Where were you?"

Liz glared at Peter as he walked into his living room.

"Sorry." Peter laid his large pile of newspapers on the coffee table. "I was having some…technical difficulties at work."

"Meaning that Jameson gave you a hard time?" Harry asked.

Liz raised an eyebrow. "Jameson?"

"J. Jonah Jameson." Harry turned to Liz. "Pete works for the Bugle."

Liz's eyes widened to the size of tennis balls.

"_You _work for the Bugle?" She exclaimed.

"Okay, that doesn't matter right now." Peter took off his uniform jacket and threw it onto the empty armchair. "Now, are we tutoring first, or are we mystery solving?"

"Tutoring." Harry replied. "Than dinner. Than mystery solving."

"Right. Good idea." Peter threw off his messenger bag, and began to ruffle through his stuff until he pulled out his biology textbook.

Liz huffed. She nodded to the pile of newspapers. "What's that?"

Peter paused. "Articles. Any newspaper with a major story about Oscorp from ten years ago until now."

Harry frowned. He plucked up one of the yellowing papers.

"There's...a lot less than you'd expect from a major company." Liz's eyebrows furrowed.

"Oscorp has a good PR team." Harry replied. "Not as good as Stark Industries, (that's why there wasn't a ton of bad press when Tony Stark was still in the weapons making game), but still...Dad hired some good lawyers."

Liz stiffened. "Oh. But...that doesn't make any sense! How could anyone silence a big newspaper company like the Bugle? No one's that powerful."

Harry and Peter exchanged looks.

"Well...Oscorp is under contract with the US military." Harry said slowly. "So, that gives them some…"

"Wiggle room?" Peter offered.

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "Oscorp has US government secrets, the US government has Oscorp secrets. Plus, Oscorp is making bank, so-"

"They have the money to silence the press." Peter added. "Either to bribe them, or to threaten them. You have a lot of reach when you have all that power."

Liz frowned. She glanced at Harry. "You said that...Did you tell Pete, yet?"

Harry shook his head. "I was waiting until the meeting."

"Right," Liz turned to Peter. "Harry and I were talking a little earlier. He told me how he stopped by his house and tried to get into the Oscorp databases-"

"It was a no-go." Harry continued. He gulped nervously. "Dad's office door was locked."

Peter stiffened. "I sense a 'but' approaching."

Harry nodded. "But, we both know that…"

The brunette shook his head. "We can't involve Gwen into this mess."

The black haired teen stared at him.

"We can't!" Peter exclaimed.

"Why?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "Cause she's sick? Pete, she's the best hacker that we know. Besides, you and I both know that she's bored."

"I can't stress her out like that!" Peter insisted.

Liz watched their argument like a tennis match.

"You know that she always wanted to do this sort of thing." Harry continued. "I bet this wouldn't even be the first time she hacked into my dad's systems-"

"Your dad." Liz interrupted.

The pair froze.

"Oscorp...Norman Osborn is your dad." The black haired girl continued. "Why not ask him to help us?"

"No." Harry replied immediately.

Liz raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Harry avoided her eyes. "Trust me. You don't want my dad to be helping us."

Liz opened her mouth to argue, but paused.

"Okay," She stated slowly. "Than...I don't know...What's the harm is asking that Gwen girl to help us?"

"It's bad enough that you guys are involved." Peter huffed, and opened up his textbook. "Can we, like, focus on studying? Please?"

Harry and Peter stared at each other for a moment. Harry raised an eyebrow at Peter, and Peter glared at him.

"Alright." Harry tugged out a textbook. "Are you alright with that, Liz?"

Liz sighed. "Do we have a choice when Peter's acting all grumpy? As long as we order Italian, I don't care what we do first."


	7. Chapter 11

**A/N:**

**Hey guys! So, three things:**

**1) I just finished episode 3! Again! And while it isn't as perfect as I want it to be, it's a lot better than the original, and I'm much happier with this version! I've started episode 4...and by that, I mean that I've started, like, two pages, but it's a start. **

**2) I'm so tiiiirrreeeddddd. Like holy crap, my personal life has become so busy, that I actually started hysterically laughing at one point this week, I was ****_that _****stressed out. **

**3) Thanks again for everyone reading! I see a lot of people from different countries reading this story, and you don't understand how happy that makes me feel! **

**Anyways, on to the story! And sleep! Holy crap, I want to go to bed!**

As it turned out, looking through all those newspapers didn't really give much information.

After doing their homework and ordering dinner, the trio immediately began to search through the papers. Once in awhile, they would comment on something that looked strange, read it out-loud, than look it up online. It didn't lead them to much information.

Peter's dad was never mentioned. Most of the articles were about new tech that Oscorp had come out with, or how Oscorp had replaced SI in the weapons making business. There were a bunch of hints about scandals, but nothing that the paper could verify.

After a couple of hours of this, Liz finally asked if they could maybe talk to Gwen.

"We're not getting anywhere with this," She said, as she threw aside a paper. "Besides, this is so boring. I thought all this investigation stuff would be excited, but we're getting nowhere."

Peter didn't look up from the article he was reading. "Sorry that my life bores you so much."

Liz groaned. "You know that isn't what I meant. Besides, you really need to cut that attitude. Harry and I are trying to help you."

Peter paused from reading. He glanced at the pair.

"Oh…." He said softly. "I'm sorry."

Liz sighed and crossed her arms. "It's okay. Just stop it."

"Right…." The brunette frowned at this particular article.

It was about some man named 'Curtis Conners'. For some reason, that rang a bell…

"Found something?" Harry asked.

Peter shook his head. He made a mental note to look up that dude's name. "Nothing of interest."

Liz groaned again. "Okay, we aren't getting anywhere with this. Can we-like-make a new strategy here?"

Harry eyed the rest of the papers. "There's only four left. It shouldn't take us much longer to finish."

"What are the chances," Liz replied. "Of finally finding some information in the last four papers?"

"You never know," Peter folded the paper. "Those are the oldest ones. Maybe there's something….."

The black haired girl sighed, and reached for another paper.

After a few minutes of sighing and page turning, the doorbell rang.

Harry stood up. "That's the takeout."

Liz and Peter thanked him for paying, and Peter helped him get the food. Once they came back, Liz was staring at Peter with an expression of pity.

"What?" Peter frowned.

Liz stood up, and handed him the paper.

'_An obitchuary,' _Peter realized. '"_Mary and Richard Parker…plane crash...Left behind a five year old son"...Oh. No wonder she's looking at me like that.'_

"Are….were they your….?"

Peter put the paper to the side. "Yeah. But...It's no big deal. It was nine years ago."

Liz stared at him for an entire minute. "I'm sorry."

The brown haired boy gulped. God, he hated hearing those words. He heard them way too much throughout his young life.

I'm sorry your parents died.

I'm sorry your uncle died.

I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!

But he forced a smile, and told Liz that it was okay, because he knew that she was just trying to be a good friend, and she probably didn't know how to respond to this new information.

The pause afterwards was overly long and awkward.

Peter decided to fill it by snatching the last paper, and looking through it. Harry and Liz began to eat.

After awhile, Peter said, "He's a supervillain."

Both Harry and Liz paused.

"If he's the bad guy in this situation, why did he only attack me?" He put the paper to the side.

Harry and Liz exchanged looks.

"Fish-Bowl Guy?" Liz asked.

Peter nodded. "He only threatened you when I wouldn't participate. Why? Why would he let a witness get away?"

The trio paused. They exchanged looks.

"He said that he didn't want to hurt innocent civilians…" Liz said slowly.

"If he could help it." Peter added.

"So, what?" Harry frowned. "He just wanted to kill Peter, and that's it? He doesn't care about witnesses?"

Liz frowned.

Peter felt alarmed.

'_It's definitely about the sample.' _He thought. '_The sample and revenge. That's really just it. Does that mean...would it be okay if I involve Gwen?'_

'_No. Just because he let Liz go than, doesn't mean that he would now. We're looking into him. Trying to figure out his motives. We've entered pretty dangerous waters, here.'_

"Okay, that's enough." Liz crossed her arms.

Peter frowned at her. "Wha-?"

"We are trying to help you, Peter." Liz glared at him. "We're trying to help you, and here you are, keeping secrets from us!"

Harry stiffened.

The teenager rubbed her forehead. "Look, I don't want to start a fight. I really really don't want to start a fight. But Peter, we didn't call the police for you. We have been looking through boring newspapers for hours, for you! How are we supposed to help you, if you don't tell us anything?"

The boy blinked at her slowly. He felt the color draining from his face.

"You clearly figured something out." She huffed. "So? Out with it."

Peter stared at his hands. "I can't."

The air around him became stuffy.

Harry shifted. "Dude-"

"Looks-I really-I can't talk about it." Peter ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry-I just-I can't."

Liz crossed her arms.

"Either you tell us," She said slowly. "Or I'm calling the police, and I'm telling them everything."

The color drained from the brunette's face. He clutched his hair, and glanced at the side.

"Peter," Harry added in a softer tone. "We can't do a thing if you don't help us."

Peter pressed his hand against his forehead. "I didn't...I never wanted your help, though. Look, this is dangerous. I can't-If I tell you everything-I can't-I just-"

He shook his head. He began to pace. "I-I know you're trying to help, and I am grateful for it, I really am, but I can't-I can't tell anyone everything I know. No one can know about it."

"Fish-Bowl clearly knows about it." Liz pointed out.

"Yeah, I know that. Which is why, if I tell you guys, you'll be in even more danger than you already are!"

"No offense, man," Harry frowned. "We're already pretty neck-deep. How much worse can it be?"

Peter stared at him in silent horror.

Liz and Harry exchanged looks. Liz nodded slowly, and reached towards the Parkers' house phone-

Peter quickly grabbed it before her.

"Liz, please." Peter begged. "You can't-"

"Well, what do you expect me to do, Peter!" Liz stood up. "You want to keep this a secret, you want us to not be in danger, you say that the shit we're getting into is super dangerous, and yet, you are making us go into this blind! You aren't letting us ask for help, when you clearly need it-I-What are we supposed to do than? Just-just let you do all this by yourself? Just let you get yourself killed?"

Peter glanced at the floor.

Liz huffed. She glared at the floor. "Look, I get that you're trying to-I get that your dad-"

Her eyes darted to Harry. She took a deep breath.

"I get that you are trying to protect him," Peter glanced at her. She was staring at him intensely, and speaking very slowly. "And I understand that you are trying to protect yourself. And I think I'm starting to get why you don't want the police involved, but...you gotta throw us a bone, here."

Peter frowned. "I-"

"Let us talk to Gwen." Harry said. He grabbed his friend's shoulder. "You know she'd be willing to do anything for you, Pete. Just...Let her help us."

The shorter teen sucked in his cheeks. Then, he felt his shoulders sag.

"I'm sorry, guys." He said. "I'm being a terrible le-Er-person in charge-Or whatever."

Liz glanced at the phone. Her eyes darted to the floor. "Yeah, you are pretty terrible at this. Sorry for yelling at you."

"Sorry for being difficult."

"Uh...okay. Maybe we shouldn't make this a group therapy session." Harry interrupted. He turned to Peter. "So, are we going to Gwen's tomorrow, or…."

Peter sighed. "Yeah. We'll meet again after work."

Somehow, despite being reminded of calling Gwen back constantly, Peter completely forgot to. The only time he remembered was when a giant teddy bear was being thrown his way.

"You asshat!" Gwen Stacy shouted. "I have called you four times this week! And what do you do? What do you do? You ignore me! You freakin' asshat!"

"Hey, Gwen." Harry said, ignoring the commotion as he sat himself on Gwen's bed.

The blond immediately smiled at him. "Hey, Har! It's good to see you! You really need to start visiting me more often."

She immediately turned to Peter, and gave him, 'The Look'.

Peter flinched. Liz giggled.

Gwen's grey eyes went from her friend, to Liz Allen. Gwen frowned.

"Uh...hello?" She said. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh...she came as a friend." Peter replied quickly. He flinched again as Gwen glared at him.

"Hey-hey, Gwen." Liz smiled nervously. "You-You look nice."

Gwen's glare melted. She smiled an unsure smile at Liz.

"Thanks for saying that." She replied. "It's okay, though, I know I look like crap. The steroids made me gain a shit ton of weight."

Liz looked like she had no clue how to respond to that. "No-no. I think that you still look pretty."

Gwen laughed. "Okay, you can stay. Pete, you've been replaced. Have a nice day."

"Oh...okay." Peter turned around to leave.

Liz grabbed his arm. "Oh, no you don't!"

"We actually need your help, Gwen." Harry replied. "Liz, can you get that door, please? I'm nervous that Pete's gonna bolt."

"Yeah, that ain't happening." Liz replied, as she glared at him.

Peter gulped and nodded. He turned to Gwen, noting her glaring expression, and immediately feeling guilty.

"Look, Gwen, I'm so sorry. I should have called you-"

"Yeah, you should have."

Peter stared at the floor. After a minute, Gwen sighed.

"Okay, stop beating yourself up." She stood up. "I am still upset at you, but it's okay. Don't-like-have an anxiety attack, please."

"I'm not." Peter glanced at her. "And that is literally the worst thing to say to someone who's having an anxiety attack, Gwen."

Gwen gave him a half smile, before giving him a hug. "You better have washed your hands before coming here, I swear to god."

"Your mom wouldn't let us until we did." Peter replied.

After giving Harry similar treatment, Gwen sat back on her computer desk, and crossed her arms.

"Alright," She said. "What's up? Why are you all so serious looking?"

The trio exchanged looks. One look from Harry told Peter that he should be the one to be doing the explaining.

Peter sighed as he closed the door and sat on a beanbag.

"This...this is going to take awhile." He admitted.

Gwen shrugged, frowning deeply. "I have time."

"Right…" Peter sighed again. Finally, he explained almost everything.

Fish-Bowl attacking him and Liz. Fish-Bowl's monologue and unsuccessful murder attempt.

Once he finished, Peter was too busy staring at the floor before ending with, "It's my dad. He had a vendetta against my dad. Something he did before he died, I guess."

There was a pause.

After a moment, Peter heard the squeaking of a chair, and a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders.

Peter sighed, before pressing his face into Gwen's shoulder. After a moment, she pulled back, eyebrows furrowed.

"I...Does anyone else knows about this?" She glanced at Liz and Harry. "An adult? The police?"

"We can't tell the police." Liz glanced at the floor. Her expression looked very mixed.

Harry frowned, eyes darting from Peter to Liz.

"Why not?" Gwen sank down on the beanbag next to Peter.

Liz shrugged. She studied Peter for a moment, before replying, "Fish-Bowl is clearly after something, or wants whatever it is to be gone. If that thing that he wants is so bad and important, who are the last people who should be getting their paws on it? SHIELD, obviously."

Peter immediately turned to her. His eyes widened.

Liz shrugged again. "That's why you wanted to keep this under wraps, right? Your dad was a scientist, either he discovered or made something that was super dangerous, and you kind of know what it is, right?"

Peter bit his nail.

"Okay…" Gwen said slowly. "So, what do you want me to do, exactly?"

"Figure out what it is." Liz replied. "We need you to hack into Oscorp's systems, and find out what exactly Peter's dad was doing. And finding out who Fish-Bowl is would be pretty helpful."

Gwen chewed her lip. "Will this be dangerous?"

"Very." Liz said.

"Absolutely." Harry added.

"Super dangerous." Peter removed his finger from his mouth.

"Okay," Gwen shrugged. "Not like I have anything better to do, anyways."

Liz raised an eyebrow at Gwen's readiness to jump into danger. Peter and Harry were not as shocked.

"Right," Gwen replied, as she grabbed Peter's arm, and stood up. "You're going to have to help me, Pete. Hacking into a major corporation like Oscorp will take time, especially since we need to carefully. One wrong move, and their sensors will detect us."

"So, basically, it'll take time?" Harry asked.

"Yup." Gwen replied. "It took me an entire month to hack into their systems, last year. But with Pete's help, it should only take a week or two."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Liz held out a hand. "You really hacked into Oscorp before? _By yourself?"_

Gwen smiled. "I'm an egghead, Liz. I'll probably be taking Pete's spot in top of the class in Midtown, if I get in."

Peter grinned. "You will. And we'll see about that."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "In your dreams, Einstein. We'll have to make a schedule, though, for when you can come over."

"Sounds good." Peter replied.

"Oh, and you owe me new gear."

The brunette sighed. "Yeah, I know."

Liz frowned. "New what now?"

"We're gaming nerds." Gwen replied.

"Oh." Liz replied.

"So, are we doing this?" Harry interrupted. "Like...actually hacking into Oscorp's systems?"

Gwen winked. "Oh, we are definitely doing this."


	8. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hello fellow humans!**

**Welp, my life is a god damn mess right now. Can't really get into it, but suffice to say, I am stressed. I wish I could say that I can't wait for Thanksgiving break, buuuuutttt, it's not going to be a break for me. It's going to be a catch-up-on-your-homework-fest. **

**Anyways, happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the States, and happy Wednesday night/Thursday to everyone else!**

**Let's go on with the story!**

'_To whom this may concern:_

_Hello, my name is Peter Parker. About a month ago, I had the honor of meeting Tony Stark-'_

Delete delete delete.

'_Dear Mr. Stark, _

_Hey, it's Peter Parker. You know...the kid you met over a month ago? I was kind of wondering how you're doing? Cause like I said, it's been an entire month, and I never heard from-'_

'_To whoever is reading this,_

_Hi, my name is Peter Parker. I'm Tony Stark's biological son. If someone could please remind him that he hasn't contacted me in over a month, that would be swell-'_

'_Mr. Stark, _

_It's been a month! Where the fu-'_

'_Dear Mr. Stark, _

_Please tell me where you are! You haven't contacted me in a month! Do you not want to know me? Am I not good enough for you-'_

'_Hey, Dad!_

_Just wanted to let you know that I was almost murdered about a month ago! Buuuuut you probably don't even give a shit, do you-'_

'_To whom this may concern:_

_Hello, my name is Peter Parker. I was informed by a family member a few years ago that I am Tony Stark's biological child. Mr. Stark and I have met over a month ago, and have not been in contact ever since. _

_I currently do not have evidence to prove that I am Tony Stark's biological child, however, attached to this email, you will find a portrait shot of myself and of Tony Stark at my age. I believe that you will find the similarities to be uncanny. _

_If you are still (understandably) unconvinced, I am more than willing to submit a sample of my DNA for your testing pleasure. _

_Thank you and have a good day, _

_Peter Parker.'_

Peter stared at the email. He reread it three times. He sighed.

He gave him a month. An entire month. He could only take being ignored for so much time.

'_They're going to delete it.' _Peter thought glumly, as he reread the email. '_They're not gonna do a damn thing, and he's just going to continue to ignore me.'_

The seeds of despair have grown roots at this point. They'll start leafing and blossoming if Peter didn't get an answer soon.

So, he sent the email.

And…..he immediately regretted it.

'_Curtis Conners.' _Peter read. '_Well, this is the right place.'_

The teenager had finally remembered who this man was, after googling his name. He worked on several scientific papers with Peter's dad. They were clearly close in one way or another.

Peter took a deep breath, and glanced at Dr. Conners' office hours.

'_He should be here.' _He thought, as he frowned at the darkened office. '_I guess I should have sent an email, or something. Well...I guess I have time to kill.'_

The teenager plopped on the floor, and pulled out his newish (it was actually super old, but it worked just fine) phone. He checked his email for the millionth time. He checked a text from Aunt May (Sorry, baby, gonna have to miss dinner again).

Once five minutes passed, he pulled out his notebook, and started to sketch out a new spidey invention.

Tracers. They'd come in a canister, similar to his webbing, compacted, yet sparse enough for only one to come out at a time. They'd vibrate at a frequency that Peter would be able to sense with his Vibrations Sight.

The teenager chewed the end of his pencil, stiffening, and holding his sketchbook close to him whenever a college student passed him.

It was almost an hour of sitting, and having older kids look at him funny, when he decided…that he'd give Conners another twenty minutes before leaving.

Peter sighed.

He wondered if those college students smelled his desperation.

It was after nine minutes, when the sound of two pairs of heavy footsteps made Peter perk up.

He quickly put his sketchbook back and stood up.

Two men turned the corner.

One was tall, blond, in a white lab coat. The other was a little younger, dark haired.

Peter stiffened as he felt his spider-senses tingle just a little.

'_Huh?'_

The two men paused. The older one glanced at Peter with a curious expression. The other looked completely shocked.

"I'm sorry, may I help you, son?" The older gentleman asked.

Peter cleared his throat. "Uh...hi. Are-are you Dr. Conners?"

The man tapped his chin. "Hm...I believe you have the right man. I suppose that it depends who is asking."

"Oh!" The teenager held out a hand. "Peter."

The professor shook Peter's hand with his left hand. "Nice to meet you, Peter. What can I do for you?"

"Oh-oh! I-I'm Peter Parker." The teenager stuttered out nervously. "Richard-I-He's my dad. I'm Richard Parker's son."

Almost immediately, Dr. Conners let go of Peter's hand. His eyes widened in surprise, and he took a few steps back.

"My god," The older man whispered. He examined every detail of Peter's face. "My god! It really is you! I haven't seen you since you were a toddler!"

Peter blinked. "Wait, you knew me?"

"Did I know-" Dr. Conners shook his head. He only now he seemed to remember the other man. He glanced at him. "I'm afraid we'll have to cut our conversation a bit short, Mr. Beck-"

"It's fine." The younger man replied. "It was...Ah..._nice _seeing you again, Curt."

He sent Peter a smile that made his spin shiver. He departed, much to Peter's relief.

Dr. Conners gestured Peter to his office. "If you will…"

"Right." Peter nodded. He entered the small office, and waited for the older man to sit down until he followed suit. His eyes darted to happy pictures of a middle aged woman, holding a small child.

"My wife, Martha." Conners explained. He tapped on the picture. "My son, Billy. He's eight."

"Right…." Peter replied. He wasn't sure how to start this.

Dr. Conners cleared his throat. His eyes darted to the window.

"I suppose, I suppose this is the best time to apologize, Peter," Dr. Conners said.

Peter gapped at the older man. "Uh…"

"When Richard and Mary died," He continued. "I should have taken you in. Your father, he was like a brother to me, and I-"

"Uh, actually-I-" The teenager shook his head. "Wait, how close were you to my dad?"

Dr. Conners blinked.

"Has...has May and Ben not mentioned me?"

Peter shook his head.

"Ah," Dr. Conners' shoulders sank. "Ah."

Silence.

"You're quite thin, Peter," Dr. Conners said. "Is it because...how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay." Peter glanced at the pictures again. "My immune systems hasn't acted up in awhile, so...yeah. I'm good."

Another pause.

The professor plucked up a pen, then put it back down.

"My apologizes, Peter," Dr. Conners said. "But if you are not here for...personal reasons, why are you here?"

Peter shifted. "Well...this is still pretty personal. It's about my dad."

"Oh?"

Peter sat back. He drummed his hand on the desk. "How...how close were you to my dad? I assumed that you guys were lab partners, or something, but…"

"Roommates." Dr. Conners replied. "College roommates. Since freshman year."

"Ah." Peter replied.

Dr. Conners studied him.

"You know," Dr. Conners said. "You don't look like Richard. You have Mary's freckles...You must take from her side of the family."

'_You have no idea…'_

Peter shrugged. "So...you guys were roommates. Did you work with him at Oscorp?"

Dr. Conners stiffened.

"Oscorp…" The professor shook his head. "My dear boy, that was many years ago-"

"So, you did work with him!" Peter's eyes lit up. "Can you tell me about it? What you guys did? What he was like? If-"

He paused when he noted the color drain from Conners' face.

"Oh, I'm afraid I cannot talk about my former work," Dr. Conners said. "I had to sign an NDA, you see. But, if you'd like me to talk about your parents, Peter, than yes, I have many memories of them."

The teenager hesitated.

'_Well, that makes this investigation a bust.' _Peter thought. '_But memories of my parents...I don't really hear about that.'_

"I...sure...I'd love-"

His phone rang.

It was Gwen.

"-Ah...another time, if that's okay." Peter nervously scratched the back of his neck. "I didn't expect to stay here for too long, so…"

"Oh, it is quite alright, Peter." The man quickly scribbled a number down. He handed the paper to the teenager. "I appreciate your visit, Peter."

"You, too, sir." They shook hands.

It took Peter twenty minutes on his bus to realize two things:

Dr. Conners only had one arm.

'_WAIT, WHAT DID HE MEAN THAT HE SHOULD HAVE TAKEN ME IN?!'_

"Took you long enough, Petey." Gwen raised an eyebrow at Peter, as he rushed into her bedroom.

"Sorry." Peter grabbed a beanbag and dragged it to her desk. "There was an accident, traffic was awful-"

"And your visit with that doctor guy took longer than expected?"

"Yeah…." Peter sat down. "He was chatting with some guy before. Took, like, an hour to even talk to him."

"Huh." Gwen twirled a pen as Peter pulled out some sandwiches from his bag. "Are you sure that we should be keeping this stuff from Liz and Harry?"

Peter paused.

"No," He replied. He frowned. "I just...I don't want them to be put in any more danger than they already are."

Gwen chewed her lip, and accepted the sandwich.

"They'll be so angry when they find out." Gwen said.

Peter sighed.

Gwen wasn't supposed to find out about Conners. But out of all of Peter's friends, she was the one who knew how to get any secret out of him. She just knew him that well.

They just...had a different relationship than their other friends. Sharing the same illness did that to you.

'_She'd probably be able to find out about my secret identity if she wanted to.' _

A scary thought that had occurred to him more than once.

"So, what was Conners like?" Gwen frowned at her computer.

Peter frowned. "Weird. Definitely weird."

"Define 'weird'."

The brunette unwrapped his sandwich. "Nervous. Blunt."

"Sounds like you."

"Haha." Peter tugged off a bit of bread and popped it in his mouth. "He said that he couldn't tell me anything."

Gwen paused. "So, that was a bust?"

"For our investigation? Yes." Peter glanced at the blond. "But...for personal reasons? No."

The girl glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.

"He knew my dad, Gwen." Peter explained. "I was thinking...Well...Maybe I could bring Eddie over to him...I mean, if he knew my parents, he had to know Eddie's too...And we can talk. You know?"

Gwen's face softened. "Yeah, I know."

Then, her expression became more neutral. "Uh...speaking of Eddie…"

"Are you going to tell him? What we're up to?" Gwen stared at him.

"It depends how involved his parents are in this situation." Peter replied.

Gwen frowned at him. "They're most likely very involved. Your dads were partners, right?"

Peter chewed his lip.

"This whole situation," He said slowly. "Is very sketchy. If-if our dads were onto something that might affect how Eddie might view his dad…"

"Pete," Gwen touched his shoulder. "I understand that you want to protect us, but...If Eddie's dad is involved, he needs to know."

Peter stared at the floor.

"How would you feel if he kept something like that from you?" The blond pushed.

"Angry." Peter admitted.

Gwen nodded.

They stared at each other for a moment.

"If Uncle Ed is involved," Peter said. "I'll come clean to Eddie."

Gwen relaxed. She nodded.

The boy decided to change the subject.

"How are you?" He asked.

"Hm? Oh...I'm okay. I'm glad I finally have something to do that isn't homework related."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Wait. Hold up. You mean to tell me that nerds _don't _like doing homework all day?"

"Believe it or not, no." Gwen grinned, and opened up her own sandwich. "We actually have other things that we'd rather be doing."

"Like RPGs?" Peter guessed.

Gwen sighed. "And books. And tv. God, I've been so bored that I've been watching reality tv. It's _that _bad."

"Well, you'll be feeling better in a few months, then you can be bored at school."

"I'll be living the dream." Gwen grinned. She rested her head on Peter's shoulder. "I really can't wait to take your place as top of the class."

"We'll see about that." The teenager replied.


	9. Chapter 13

"You look tired, Peter."

The teenager paused. He looked up from his phone, and frowned at his aunt.

"Huh?" He said.

May studied his face. She touched his cheek. "Your face has thinned out. Have you been eating?"

Peter yawned. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just stressed. Finals are in a week."

She nodded slowly. Her forehead creased with worry lines.

'_She looks pretty tired, herself.' _Peter thought.

"How's tutoring with that Liz girl?" May asked, as she sat down.

"It's good." Peter replied.

"Are you going to ask her out soon?"

If the teenager was drinking something, he would have spat it out.

"What?!" He stuttered out. "Aun-Aunt May! Why would you even-I don't like-She has a boyfriend!"

May chuckled. "I had a boyfriend before your uncle came along."

"Oh my god!" The teenager covered his reddening face with his hands.

"Ah, I'm just messing with you, baby." May laughed to herself.

Peter mock glared at her.

May reached over, and ruffled his hair.

"I'm really glad that you're spending more time with your friends, honey." She smiled.

Peter paused.

"Between school and work, I was nervous that you'd be getting too busy to socialize." She tucked stray brown locks behind his ear.

Peter nodded. He bit his lip for a moment, before saying, "How about you, Aunt May? You haven't hung out with any of your friends, lately."

"Oh, we both know that I'm far too busy for that." May's smile faded slightly. "Oh, now, don't give me that guilty look. It's my job to do this."

'_To what?' _Peter thought sadly. '_Exhaust yourself to death?'_

Aunt May stood up suddenly. She kissed her nephew's cheek. "Well, I need to head out. I love you, Pete."

"Love you, too." Peter forced a smile as he watched her walk out the door.

"It so weird that you're going to be a senior next year."

Eddie laughed as he completely destroyed Peter's high score. "It is weird, isn't it? One second, you and I were screaming our little heads off on the playground, the next, I'm going to college in a year."

Peter shook his head. "You'll be an old man before you know it."

"Yeah, well, you won't be too far along." Eddie blasted an alien with masterful tact.

"You say that as though I'm _not _going to be young forever."

Eddie laughed. "Okay, yeah, sure. Have fun being fourteen for the rest of your life."

"Almost fifteen." Peter corrected. He crossed his arms. "Hey, I can always say that I look young for my age."

"'Oh yeah, I'm definitely seventy-six. I...Uh...Just use very good moisturizer.'"

"I will push you, and make you lose."

"Not if you want to make it to fifteen, shorty." Eddie grinned. He had just beat the game.

Tickets poured out from the slot, with no chance of slowing.

Peter whistled. "Bro, I think you'll be able to get that lava lamp."

Eddie snorted. "All that effort for a stupid lava lamp? You're kidding."

"Lava lamps are cool."

"Yeah! When you're twelve! Oh, sorry, Pete. I forgot that you're pretty close to twelve-"

The shorter of the pair jokingly pushed the other. The taller lightly shoved him back.

Peter laughed. It was cut short by a feeling of guilt.

Eddie peered into his bro's face with a slight frown. "You okay, bro?"

The brunette laughed it off. "Yeah, I'm good. Let's go get you that lava lamp!"

"For the last time, I'm not getting a damn lava lamp!"

The pair laughed.

'_I really hope that your dad isn't involved, bro.' _Peter thought as they approached the prizes. '_You won't be laughing with me anymore if he is, and I kept that from you.'_

(By the way, Eddie did not end up picking the lava lamp).

The guilt was growing.

Secrets, secrets, so many secrets.

Peter felt like he was going insane.

Hide contact of his father from Aunt May. Hide Spider-Man from Aunt May. Hide Spider-Man from Mary Jane. Hide his powers from Gwen. Hide Spider-Man from everyone. Hide Dad's secret from everyone.

Hide hide hide hide hide hide hide hide HIDE!

Too much! It was too much! Too much too much too much!

The guilt hurt too much!

They were going to hate him! They were all going to hate him!

It was all getting to be too much!

No one so much as decided to warn Peter about Mary Jane.

No texts. No phone calls. Peter entered Gwen's room completely blind.

Liz and Harry glanced at him with sheepish expressions. Gwen was staring at her computer, her blond hair preventing Peter from seeing any facial expressions.

Mary Jane was glaring at Peter from Gwen's bed. Her arms were crossed.

"Peter Benjamin Pesach Binyamin Parker," She growled.

"MJ?" Peter's voice came out as a squeak.

She stood up. Her brown eyes were narrowed, and she crossed her arms.

"For the past three weeks," She said slowly. "I saw you acting all funny. Dodging questions, avoiding topics, being _oh so _busy! And here, I thought it was because your dad finally decided to talk to you, so I thought, 'Okay. Wow. I'll give him some space. I'll give him some time before he talks to me.'

"But then, I see that Harry was _also _acting weird. So I thought, 'Okay...maybe they actually are dating, and they aren't telling me-'"

"You are aware that just because I'm pan, doesn't mean that-" Peter interrupted, a blush flickering on his face.

Mary Jane held out her hand. "But then, I saw Liz Allen chilling with you guys. And that made me wonder, 'What on earth would Liz Allen of all people hang out with you losers?'"

"Gee, thanks." Harry replied.

"You guys kind of are losers, though." Gwen said.

"So, than," MJ continued, like she wasn't interrupted. "I followed you guys yesterday-"

"You _stalked _us?" Peter exclaimed.

Everyone else had similar looks of alarm and annoyance on their faces that Peter was sure was also on his face.

"Yup." The red head replied.

'_My spider sense didn't even pick her up.' _Peter's eyes widened. '_Guess because she isn't much of a threat...When she isn't angry, that is.'_

"So, I decided to crash whatever party this is." MJ slowly approached Peter, which slowly made his face turned as red as her hair. "Only to find out that you were almost _murdered _a month ago by a crazy super villain! And you know how I found out, tiger? Not from you, but from Liz Allen, of all people!"

Liz made a face at being called, 'Of all people'.

"Wait," She said. "We haven't been hanging out at school...Have...have you been watching us for awhile?"

Mary Jane grunted. "That is not the point! The point is, you guys decided to make some kind of dream team to fight Mr. Bad Guy, and you didn't even invite me!"

There was a pause.

"I'm...I'm sorry?" Harry frowned.

"What? You thought I wasn't game for this?" She glared at everyone. "You thought I couldn't help? Why? Is it because I'm a ginger?"

Liz rolled her eyes. "Isn't your hair dyed, or something?"

The corners of Mary Jane's lips twitched. It dropped. "But seriously, why didn't you guys tell me?"

Peter stepped up. "MJ-"

"Everyone except Peter, tell me." MJ's eyes narrowed.

Everyone else exchanged looks.

Liz stood up. "It's Peter's secret. He was afraid of involving anyone else."

Mary Jane thought that over.

"Okay," MJ said slowly. "Than why are you three involved?"

They exchanged looks.

"Well…" Liz said slowly. "I saw the murder attempt take place…"

"And Liz told me that the murder attempt took place."

"And they needed to use me for my hacking skills." Gwen added.

Pause.

Mary Jane studied everyone. Her frown deepened.

"Okay," She said slowly. "I still don't understand why you couldn't tell me."

"Mary Jane-" Peter tried.

She glared at him. "No. You don't get to talk. Not when I am super angry at you."

She turned to the others for an explanation.

But after a minute of no one talking, Harry said, "I think Pete is the only one who can explain…."

He paused when MJ glared at him.

She sighed, and turned to Peter.

He gulped. He glanced at the floor.

"I was scared," He admitted. "That I'd be putting you in danger."

Mary Jane raised an eyebrow. "Yet, you were okay with putting everyone else in danger?"

Peter's eyes darted back to her, widened in horror. "No! I'd never-"

"We insisted, Watson." Liz interrupted. "We knew that no matter what we'd do, Peter would do all the investigating by himself, and we couldn't let him get himself killed."

Pause.

MJ studied everyone again. She sighed.

"I'm now apart of this little Mock-Avengers, or whatever." She crossed her arms, and clearly daring anyone to disagree with her.

No one did.

"Okay." Gwen said finally. She glanced at Peter. "Well, we finally got into Oscorp's database. Anyone want to see what we're working with, here?"


	10. Chapter 14

"If there's going to be information about Peter's dad." Harry informed them. "It's probably going to be buried _deep _in Oscorp's files. After all, it happened nine years, so-"

"If they have it on file," Gwen interrupted. "I'll find it. It'll just take some time."

"And time is limited." Peter added, leaning against the back of Gwen's chair. He frowned at the computer. "We need to find those files fast, before someone in Oscorp realize that they've been hacked."

"So, no pressure." Liz said.

Gwen cracked her fingers. "Please. That's the best way I work."

"I'm really confused."

Peter paused from sliding the frozen pizzas in the oven. "Hm?"

Liz fiddled with a fruit sticker. "Watson mentioned your dad, but it sounds to me like...like he's alive."

The brunette paused.

'_Shit.' _Peter thought.

The freckled teen studied the oven.

"It's...complicated." Peter admitted.

"You think I don't get complicated?" Liz asked.

They studied each other.

"Okay, how about this?" Liz sat herself on the counter. "You tell me your secret, and I'll tell you mine. Go."

Peter paused. He glanced around the house, before reminding himself that no one was there. Captain Stacy was at work. Mrs. Stacy was taking Gwen's little brothers shopping.

"You...You can't tell anyone about this." Peter finally said.

Liz raised an eyebrow. "You mean like how I can't tell anyone about the nine million other secrets that I have been keeping for you?"

The brunette gulped. "Right...Well...My mom, she kind of...Well...I don't know for sure, but my mom probably cheated on my dad."

Liz whistled. "Oh. So, you're homewrecker baby."

Peter cringed. "You just made that up."

The blackette paused.

"Sorry." She said.

"It's...It's fine." Peter glanced at the oven. "That joke was terrible, though."

Liz shrugged and blushed.

"But yeah," Peter said. "I'm a…'homewrecker baby'."

"And you know who your dad is?" Liz raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah...but I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"You won't believe me."

"Oh yeah?" Liz leaned forward. "Well, I hate to break it to you, Peter, but aliens exist. So do gods. There isn't much that surprises me now-a-days."

Peter glanced at her. He studied her for a moment.

"Tony Stark." He said.

Liz froze. Her eyes widened. She stared at Peter for a very long time, before saying, "You're right. I don't believe you."

"Knew you wouldn't." The brunette glanced away.

But Liz wasn't done.

"I mean...what are the odds? You, being related to-to Iron-Man?" Liz continued. "I mean-C'mon. That isn't real life."

"I'm not going to try to prove to you that I'm related to him, Liz."

"But-but-That is such a huge claim! Do you understand how crazy that is?"

"Can we get to your secret now?"

"I mean...like...yeah, Stark is known to be a playboy…"

"Wow, you hear that? It's the changing of subjects. Let's do that."

"And...I mean, how can that be true, though? Tony Stark is one of the richest men, like, ever! Your face would be plastered everywhere!"

Peter winced. "That comes with the implications that he'd even want me in the first place."

Pause.

"Yeah, sorry, I really don't believe you." Liz finished off.

Peter sighed. "That's okay."

Another pause.

"Wanna-wanna tell me your secret now?"

"Nope."

"What? But I-"

"You told me a lie." Liz leaned back. "The rules to the game was a legit secret."

Peter huffed. "But I did-Okay, you know what? Nevermind."

"I shall forever remain a mystery."

"That has the implications of me wanting to solve that mystery in the first place."

"Holy shit, ouch, man."

Peter's smile faded. "Wait! That was a joke, Liz! I didn't mean-I'm sorry-"

"It's fine." Liz interrupted. "I'm not an idiot, Pete. I know that you were joking."

"Oh."

The sounds of footsteps made Peter's ears prick.

"What?" Liz asked. "You have a weird look on your face."

Peter cleared his throat. "It's nothing."

Liz frowned at him.

"What's your favorite color?" He suddenly blurted out.

The blackette blinked. "I...what?"

He glanced at her. "I kind of...We've known each other, for like, a month. I feel like I barely know you."

A weird expression flickered on Liz's faces. She studied Peter for a moment.

"You...want to get to know me." She said.

Peter shrugged. "I mean...we are friends now, right?"

Liz stared at him. "Just...just friends?"

"Uh...yeah?"

"You're not-like-into me?"

Peter immediately blushed. "I...No? Uh...not that I don't think that you're pretty! Cause I do! But like…No. No no no. I think of you only as a friend."

Much to his surprise, Liz's eyes began to water.

"Oh." She said, with a soft smile. "Oh."

"Are-are you okay?"

"Yup. Fine. Completely okay." Liz quickly wiped her eyes.

Peter opened his mouth, but the kitchen door interrupted them.

Mary Jane glanced at the pair of them.

"Gwen needs your help." She stated drily to Peter.

"Oh." Peter replied. He glanced at Liz. "Um-"

"I'll help her with lunch." MJ interrupted.

Peter's face turned hot. He felt Liz's eyes on him, as he said, "Uh...Mary-"

"Gwen really needs your help." Mary Jane stared at him coldly.

"Oh...Right." Peter tucked his hands into his pockets. He turned to Liz. "Talk to you later?"

Liz nodded nervously. "Purple."

The brunette paused before smiling, and nodding. Peter glanced back at Mary Jane to say...Well, what was he supposed to say? But her back was turned to him.

With nothing else to do, Peter walked out of the kitchen, and back to Gwen's room.

"She hates me." Peter declared once he closed the door.

"Yup." Harry replied from his spot on Gwen's bed.

"Without any doubt." Gwen replied. She was frowning.

"Gee, thanks, guys."

"Pete, I need help with this password encryption."

With a nod, Peter rushed up to Gwen's computer. After studying the code for ten minutes, Peter whistled.

"Jesus." He muttered.

"Jesus, indeed." Gwen replied.

The pair stared at the encryption, before talking about different codes they could use to break in.

Harry sighed. "I have a headache."

"Yeah, you're not the only one." Gwen replied.

Peter frowned. "So, what now? Are we stuck?"

"Little bit." Gwen admitted.

Harry stood up. He strolled over to the computer, and frowned at it.

Both Gwen and Peter glanced at him, as he frowned intensely at the codes.

"I don't understand any of this." Harry concluded.

Gwen and Peter groaned.

"Has MJ looked at this?" Peter asked Gwen.

"Yeah, she didn't get it either." She groaned.

Peter sighed. He frowned at the encryption for another ten minutes.

"Wait," He muttered. "Why don't we guess the password?"

Gwen frowned. "No. If we get it wrong once, it'll set off alarm bells. Besides, someone will probably see that we're logged in."

Peter sighed again.

Suddenly, Gwen brightened.

"Wait, let me try something…"

She quickly typed something onto her keyboard, before pressing enter.

They were in.

Gwen grinned at Peter and Harry's stunned faces.

"You know," She said, as she leaned back. "I impress myself sometimes."

"No kidding." Harry replied.

"Okay," Gwen cracked her fingers. "We're in."

She clicked on a search bar, and typed the name, 'Richard Parker'.

Many files appeared.

"Jackpot!" Peter muttered.

Gwen quickly downloaded at many as she could.

"Okay." She said. "Now that we got the goods, we need to get out of here-"

"Without leaving any traces." Peter added.

"Right." Gwen nodded.

Harry nodded slowly. "So...we're not done yet?"

Gwen sighed. "Not even close."

They printed out all the files on Gwen's printer. And as it turned out, a majority of the information was blocked out.

Peter groaned. "Are you kidding me?"

"I know," Liz added. "More reading. How fun."

"It's okay." Gwen pulled out highlighters from her drawer. "Just...highlight and write down anything that sounds important."

"How are we supposed to know what sounds important?" Harry frowned.

"Guess?" Liz said.

"No! Do not guess!" Peter replied. "Just...you'll know it when you see it."

Mary Jane snorted. "That's specific."

So, they began their search.

Peter glanced nervously at his friends, as he plucked up a report.

'_This is going to be interesting.' _He thought.

And it was.

The more they read, the more it became clear what exactly Oscorp wanted.

"A super soldier serum?" Gwen gasped.

"Wait...like Captain America?" Liz guessed.

"Like Captain America." Peter agreed. He stared at his paper. "Oscorp had ties with the military back then, too, right? So if-"

"If they perfected that serum," Mary Jane continued. "Than...that would mean…."

There was a horrified pause.

Peter shook his head. "No, the experiment was stopped. See? It was terminated because the head scientist died."

"Your father." Liz said softly.

Peter nodded. "Guess they couldn't figure it out once he was gone."

Pause.

"Hey, guys?" Harry said. "All the names were redacted, right?"

"So far, yeah." Gwen nodded.

"They forgot about someone." Harry handed the paper to Peter.

His eyes widened.

"Beck." He said out loud.

A memory of that dark haired man from two weeks ago flickered in Peter's mind.

Peter glanced at Gwen with a horrified expression.

"What?" Mary Jane asked.

He turned to his friends. "There's something else that I've been hiding from you guys."

Liz and Harry exchanged frowns.

Mary Jane snorted. "That's not surprising."

Peter ignored her, and quickly explained his visit with Dr. Conners. Harry and Liz didn't appear too happy with more hidden information. MJ's lips were pressed tightly in a line.

"So, you've met this Beck guy?" MJ finished off.

"Yeah." Peter nodded. "He didn't seem like he was on the best terms with Dr. Conners. He was acting pretty cold."

Everyone paused.

"So, what does this mean exactly?" Gwen asked.

"No clue." Peter frowned at the document. "It doesn't tell me much about what he was doing. What his role in all of this is."

Liz groaned. "So, we basically still have nothing."

"No, we know what this experiment is about." Gwen took the paper from Peter. "We know who was involved. We just don't know-"

"Who Fish-Bowl is." Liz said. "Or why he's after Peter."

The brunette frowned. He picked up another paper.

"Something must have went wrong." Peter said slowly. "Something other than Dad dying. Something really really bad must have happened."

"But what?" MJ asked.

"That's the million dollar question, huh?" Gwen asked.

Liz glanced at Peter. A frown entered her expressions, and she studied him like she was remembering something.

"What?" Peter asked.

"Nothing." She muttered.

A door slam.

Everyone froze.

Peter opened his backpack. "Quick! In here!"

The group scrambled to grab all the papers and notebooks. By the time the stairs started to creek, and Gwen's mother began to call for them, the room was cleaned up.

"You didn't need to walk me home." Mary Jane said dryly.

Peter shifted nervously. "The sun's going down. I didn't want you to-"

"Get hurt?" MJ replied. She rolled up her sleeve to reveal a strange looking watch. "I have it covered."

"Right." Peter replied. He shifted nervously. "Listen, MJ-"

"I'm still angry at you."

The brunette gulped. "I know."

Mary Jane kicked a can, before picking it up, and tossing it at a dumpster. "We're supposed to be best friends, and all you've been doing is keeping secrets."

"I know."

"Ever since your uncle died, it's like...it's like you're a completely different person!" She ran her fingers through her hair. "I just-I've known you for ten years, and yet, I feel like you're a complete stranger."

"I'm sorry-"

"You're clearly not! Because you're still keeping secrets!" Mary Jane paused. "I know you, Peter. I know you better than I know myself. And you...you keep hiding things from me, and from May, and I don't...I don't know if I can-"

She froze. She took a deep breath.

Peter felt dread drip in his stomach. "You don't want to be friends anymore…"

"No. That isn't what I-" She took another breath. "I just...I just wish you'd be honest with me again."

Peter stared at the distance.

'_Ah. An impossible request.' _He thought.

"Mary-"

His senses went off.

"Peter?"

'_Someone's watching us.'_

He grabbed her arm.

"I see someone." He muttered.

Mary Jane stiffened.

"Let's head to that store." He muttered.

"Should we call the cops?" She whispered.

"Not yet." Peter muttered. "But text the others."

They walked carefully to the small store across the street. They both studied the wares. Mary Jane casually glanced at her phone, and started to type on it.

"Do you see them?" She mumbled.

His senses went off. His eyes went to the store clerk, than outside.

"MJ." He muttered. "I-I think I saw Spider-Man passing us."

"What?"

Peter turned to her. "Stay here. I'm going to go get him."

"Are you crazy?" She gripped his shirt. "Peter, if there's someone after us-"

"Than Spider-Man will protect us." He grabbed her hand. "MJ, this is my battle. If you ever got hurt because of this…"

She stared at him.

"Stay here." He begged.

Peter let go. He glanced at the store clerk. "Lock the door."

He ran out the door.


	11. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hey guys. **

**Sorry for not updating in awhile. Long story short, I haven't been feeling super great, emotionally wise. I can't really promise when the next time I'll be updating, since I want to write some stuff for episode 4 beforehand, but it will happen. **

**Thanks for your patience, and on with the show. **

Peter's mouth was dry as he spun a small circle on the street.

Passerbys glanced at him like he was crazy. He didn't care. He ran past them.

"Spider-Man!" He called out. "Spider-Man! I need your help! Spider-Man!"

He jogged, trying his best to locate where Fish-Bowl was.

'_I need to get out of his general vicinity.' _Peter turned a corner. '_I need somewhere I could change!'_

He paused.

'_He's following me.' _He realized. '_I need to disappear-'_

'_Or, I need to scare him away.' _

Peter had a plan.

He jogged a few streets, ending up somewhere that was a little on the deserted side. He wasn't sure if that was a bad thing or a-

His senses went off.

A puff of green smoke suddenly appeared in front of him.

Peter coughed, and took a few steps back.

'_Well, that's a dampen to the plan.'_

Once the smoke cleared, it revealed none other than Fish-Bowl.

"I wish I could say that it's nice to see you again, Parker," Fish-Bowl said. "But that would be a lie, wouldn't it?"

Peter took another step back.

'_His voice…' _

"What do you want?"

The fish-bowl cocked slightly to the side.

"What do _I _want?" He repeated incredulously. "I think it's pretty clear that what I am craving is your demize, Parker!"

Peter narrowed his eyes.

"If you wanted to kill me so badly," He said slowly. "Then why didn't you wait to make sure that I drowned? Why did you leave?"

"Huh. Smart boy." Fish-Bowl commented. "Well, you see, Peter, I have never killed anyone before. You are my first and last victim. I suppose that I simply have no taste for it."

"Okay," Peter took another step back. "Then why do it at all?"

Fish-Bowl chuckled. "Didn't I already tell you? The idea of more Richard Parkers running around in the world, well, that makes me feel ill just thinking about it."

Peter frowned. '_Wait...does he not know about the sample?'_

"So, this is only about revenge." Peter said. "I never did anything to you, you just want to get even with a dead man."

"If you knew the harm that dead man did to me," The villain hissed. "You'd be begging for death at my hands!"

"For some reason, I find myself disagreeing with that, Fish-Bowl." Another step back.

"'Fish-Bowl'?" He chuckled without humor. "Is that what you've been calling me?"

Peter eyed him warily.

"The name I personally prefer," He continued. "Is 'Mysterio'. Has quite the ring to it."

Peter cocked his head.

"You don't want to be called, 'Fish-Bowl'," He took another step. "Then don't add a fish-bowl to your supervillain costume."

"Villain." Fish-Bowl sighed. "Hm...Well, I suppose that is how you'd see me, huh? Alright, then. I'll be the villain, for now. If that's what it's going to take. So, now, Parker, hold still, while I smit you."

He raised his hands. Swirling green smoke began to pool out from his gloves.

'_Yeah, not happening.' _Peter thought, as he ran into an open alleyway.

Behind him, he heard a chuckle.

"Oh, you still wish to play games?" Mysterio chuckled. "Alright. I'll give you one last game."

Peter narrowed his eyes.

'_I've gone this route by rooftops.' _He thought. '_Let's hope that I remember it on the ground.'_

Left. Right, right, left, straight, left.

At the last corner, he saw it: The gates to Avengers' Mansion.

He ran for it.

Cars honked at him. He dodged them carefully, heart pounding as he rushed to the other side.

He was almost hit by a semi before he landed on the sidewalk. He took several steps forward, and gripped the gate. He turned his head, and there was Mysterio, standing across the street. The pair glared at each other for an entire minute, before the villain turned around and disappeared.

Peter waited a minute before his senses stopped buzzing. He leaned his sweaty forehead against the gate. He took several deep breaths. His heart was pounding like the way it did when he decided to drink seven cans of energy drinks in one day.

"Excuse me, sir," Peter jumped. "May I help you with something?"

The teenager eyed the area.

"Over here."

It was the gate speaker.

Peter flinched. "I...Uh…."

"You seem winded, sir." The voice continued. "Would you be requiring the assistance of the Avengers?"

"N-no!" The teenager tugged his hand away from the gate. "I-I don't need their help! I'm doing fine on my own-"

He winced.

The voice paused.

"You appear to be in distress, sir. Would you like to leave your name? I can inform the Avengers-"

"No, I'm fine." Peter shook his head, backing away slowly. "I...Thanks, but I'm fine...uh ...?"

"JARVIS, sir." The voice informed him.

Peter froze. He glanced at the speaker curiously. "I...JARVIS? Like...the AI?"

"That would be correct, sir."

"C-cool." Peter squinted at the speaker. He froze when he realized that there was a small camera attached.

He ducked his head down. "Well, thanks for the offer, but my friend is waiting for me, and I need to get going, thank you for your help!"

And he took off before any of the Avengers might have stepped outside.

'_Yeah, looks like the right place.' _Spider-Man thought as he lowered himself at the store front.

Despite the 'Open 24 hours' sign, the lights were off, and the door was closed.

Spider-Man knocked his hand against the glass. "Hello? It's safe to come out now."

The cashier from earlier peeked his head from the desk. With his super hearing, he could hear him telling someone to stay there while he checked it out.

The clerk stiffened at the sight of the super hero, before opening the door.

"Spider-Man?" He asked carefully.

Spidey cleared his voice. "Uh...yes. There was a boy out here earlier, telling me that there was trouble. Well, I dealt with it, and you're safe now."

"Oh, cool!" The clerk relaxed. "Uh...hey, you're a bit shorter in person-"

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"Spider-Man?"

Peter stiffened. Mary Jane stood up from behind the desk. She walked towards him carefully, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh...uh...hi..uh…" He deepened his voice. "Hello, ma'am. Would you happen to be Jane Mary Watson?"

"Mary Jane." She corrected, frowning slightly. "Is Peter okay?"

"Oh-oh! You mean the Bugle kid? Oh, he's fine. Uh-He was worried about you, and I told him that I'd walk you home, and stuff, so…I mean, if you're okay with that, that is."

MJ raised an eyebrow. She thanked the clerk for helping her, before turning to Spider-Man.

"Wow, you really are shorter in person." Her eyes narrowed. She seemed to be analyzing something.

"Yeah-well, some people are gifted with height, so…"

"Your voice sounds weird."

"I get that a lot."

"It doesn't sound like it does on YouTube."

"The camera adds some squeakiness."

Mary Jane frowned at him. "Right. So…"

"Oh, right! Walking-"

"Where's my friend?"

Spider-Man gulped.

"I made him go home." Spidey explained. "Things were getting dangerous."

Mary Jane stared at him.

'_Oh god, she knows, oh god, she knows, oh god, she knows, oh god oh god oh gooooooddddd-'_

"Right." She said. She frowned at him. "Are we walking or doing that thing you do?"

"What? Swinging?" A tickling excitement flickered in Peter's stomach. "I-I mean, we can do either or. Up to you."

Mary Jane glanced at the street.

"Raincheck on the swinging." She said. "I had too much excitement for one night."

"Okay, sure."

"But I do want to try some day."

"I-I can arrange that."

They began to walk.

"Really? You just do that swinging thing with random citizens?"

Spider-Man cleared his throat.

'_Be cool.' _He told himself.

"Not really." He admitted. "Only if they're-like-super pretty. And funny."

'_I said 'cool' not creepy!'_

Peter winced. "Ah...sorry. That was weird."

"Yeah, it was super weird." MJ agreed.

"Fair enough." Spider-Man said. "I deserve that."

"You did."

They walked for a little while in silence. Finally, they get to a bus stop.

"This is good." Mary Jane said.

Spider-Man frowned. He glanced around. "Uh…."

"I don't want you to know where I live."

"Oh."

She shrugged. "No offense."

"None taken."

Awkward pause.

Mary Jane sat down. She tugged out her phone. After pressing some buttons, she pressed it against her ear.

In his back pocket, Peter's phone began to buzz.

The redhead's eyes immediately went to the vigilante.

"You're not going to answer that?" She asked.

Peter gulped. "Er...no. No. That'd be rude to you."

Mary Jane shrugged. "I don't care."

Finally, a bus pulled up.

MJ stood up. "Thanks for the assist, Spider-Man."

"Uh...no problem." Under his mask, Peter blushed.

It didn't occur to him until after MJ entered the bus that neither of them knew where this particular bus was going.

Peter groaned.

'_Looks like I'm going to be doing some well intentioned stalking tonight.'_

PP: I got attacked again.

GS: ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

HO: R u ok, man?

PP: Yeah, fine. SPM saved me.

LA: SPM?

MJW: Spider-Man.

MJW: Dude walked me to a bus stop.

PP: Are you okay, MJ?

MJW: Fine. Why didn't you answer your phone when I called?

PP: Sorry, showering.

MJW: Right. Course you were.

HS: R u guys ok?

MJW: Little shaky. Thought tiger was going to die.

MJW: Idiot literally walked into danger

GS: WTF, Peter?

LA: Would it kill u to call the police for 1?

PP: I'm okay, guys.

PP: SPM saved my ass.

PP: I'm fine.

MJW: What happened, exactly?

PP: Well, I bumped into Mysterio, of course.

LA: ?

PP: Fish-Bowl.

GS: Is that what he calls himself?

PP: Yup

MJW: Someone is clearly over compensating for something.

PP: Anyways, blah blah blah, he said that he thought he killed me

PP: Blah blah, doesn't want any more Richard Parkers in the world

PP: Blah blah, revenge shit

PP: But that isn't what's important.

LA: Someone attempting to murder you for the second time isn't important.

PP: I think I know who he is.

GS: What?!

LA: Why are you waiting until now to tell us? Tell us!

PP: Call me.

"Is everyone alone?" Peter whispered.

"Yeah, I'm in my room." Liz said.

"Same." Mary Jane replied.

"No one's home." Harry replied.

"My family think I'm asleep." Gwen whispered.

"Don't beat around the bush." Harry said. "Who is it, Pete?"

"Beck. I think it's Beck."

Everyone paused.

"Who?" Liz asked.

"The scientist dude that we talked about today. Remember?" Peter laid down on his bed.

"Hold on." Harry muttered. There was a shuffling, and a creaking of doors.

"Harry?" Liz asked.

"I'm checking the employee database." He replied.

"Wait, are you sneaking into your dad's office?" Peter felt concerned.

"Yeah. One sec…"

There was some typing.

"Why didn't you do this earlier?" Liz asked.

"Cause...cause my dad would have killed me." Harry replied. "But...ugh, Peter almost died again."

"Bro…" Peter replied softly.

"Okay, I'm in." Harry muttered something under his breath. "Beck, Quintin. Looks like he was a lab assistant about ten years ago."

"Lab assistant?" Liz repeated.

"Yeah. But he quit a year later. Records don't explain why…"

Peter nervously tapped on his bed. The sounds of keys turning a lock gave him pause.

Peter gulped.

"I'm going to go, guys," Peter said. "I think I know someone who might have some answers."

There was a pause.

"And you'll tell us what the results are?" MJ asked.

"Yeah. I promise."

There was a pause.

"Alright." Mary Jane said. "Night, tiger."

"Get some rest, dude." Harry added.

Once everyone finished their good-nights, Peter tossed his phone to the side. He took a few deep breaths.

He stood up carefully, before opening up his bedroom door.

"Peter?" May called out. "What are you doing up? You have school tomorrow."

The teenager approached the living room with caution. He studied his aunt carefully.

"Peter?" May frowned.

"Aunt May, I need to talk to you about some things." He said.

May sighed. "Peter, it's very late-"

"It's important." He insisted.

His hands began to shake. It was starting to hit him that Mysterio made a second attempt on his life that night.

"Really, really important." He stressed out.

May looked alarmed. She sat down, and patted the seat next to her. Peter took it.

Aunt May touched his shoulder. "Baby, what's wrong? You're shaking."

Peter gulped.

"May," He said slowly. "I-I need you to tell me everything that you knew about Dad. What he did before he and Mom died."


	12. Chapter 16

**A/N: Whoa, it has been some time. **

**How is everyone doing? Is everyone doing alright in q****uarantine****? **

**I don't really know what else to say, cause what else can you say in a situation like this, so...I don't know. I hope everyone is staying safe. **

It wasn't often when Peter mentioned his parents.

If he ever did, it was usually to Uncle Ben. Uncle Ben handled death much better than Aunt May did.

Uncle Ben looked back at dead loved ones with smiles. He laughed, and told Peter these funny stories about people.

May responded about as well as Peter reacted to the death of a loved one: Not well at all.

At the mention of Peter's parents immediately caused May's eyes to water.

"Richard and Mary?" She asked softly.

Peter nodded slowly.

"What Richard was-" May shook her head. "Peter, your father was a very secretive man-"

"-But he had to have told you something, May." He touched her arm. "Look, I-I don't remember much about them, but I remember that day. Dad knew that something bad was going to happen to him and Mom, didn't he? That's why he left me with you guys instead of the Watsons."

"Peter," May said slowly. "What's this about?"

Peter stared at her.

"Don't I have the right to know?"

May glanced straight ahead.

"Aunt May," Peter begged. "What was my dad hiding?"

"Peter-"

"Please, you have to tell me-"

"I will." She stood up. "When you're older. Now, it's late, and it's time for-"

"I met Quintin Beck!"

Pause.

May's eyes widened. The two stared at each other for a moment.

"I...I'm sorry?" May muttered.

"I met Quintin Beck." Peter stood up. "And he said a lot of not nice things about Dad."

"Peter-"

"Aunt May, please." Peter touched her shoulders. "I need to know."

Aunt May stared at her child for an entire minute. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Peter," She said softly.

"I need to know the truth." He insisted. "And I can't wait another four years for it. Please, Aunt May."

Her lip quivered. She hugged him.

Peter took a shaky breath. "May?"

She pulled back a little.

"I'm not sure." She said. She wiped stray tears from her face. "Oh, honey, your uncle knew more about this-this mess."

"But you do know something?" Peter insisted.

Aunt May hesitated for a moment, before nodding.

"Beck was your father's lab assistant, and they left on bad terms." May said. "That's all I know about that. As to what your father was doing before he died, well...I'm not quite sure either...Hold on a moment, dear."

She left the living room, and came back a moment later with a yellowing envelope. She handed it to Peter.

Peter studied the envelope. He could tell by the tape that it had been previously opened. He flipped it over, and was greeted by a messy handwriting.

'_For Peter. Open after college.'_

"What if I didn't end up going to college?" Peter joked.

May smiled shakily. "Then you'd never get to find out what's in the envelope."

The teenager smiled slightly, before frowning at it. He weighed it in his hands.

Whatever was in there, it was light.

After a moment, Peter opened it. He peered into the envelope, and discovered a key, and a small folded note.

"It's for a storage unit." May explained. "Ben looked up the address."

Peter tugged out the key, and rolled it in his hand.

"Did you find out what was in it?" He asked.

May shook her head. "We wanted to leave that to you."

Peter stared at the key. His eyes began to water.

May immediately hugged him.

"He loved you, baby." She said softly.

Peter wasn't sure if she was talking about Uncle Ben or Richard Parker. Something told him that he could use the two interchangeably.

Peter didn't go to school that day. He texted his friends that they could meet after school to discuss his discovery.

For that moment, May decided that Peter needed rest, and Peter decided to go out as Spider-Man for a little bit. He just needed to clear his head for a bit.

The joys of swinging around the city weren't as prominent as usual. There was no sense of relaxation, just stress, stress, stress.

'_What did my dad do to make Beck hate him so much?' _Peter quickly dodged a news helicopter. '_It's not a case of 'revenge on an old boss who fired me' if he quit. Why did he quit, then?'_

His frown deepened. '_Someone likes to keep their identity a secret. What will he do once he finds out that we know who he is?'_

Peter landed near his school. He watched as the students entered, making sure that the stranglers were inside, before continuing on.

'_Maybe I should hold off the meeting.' _He thought. '_Maybe everyone should keep a low profile-'_

His phone buzzed.

**EB: Bro, where are you?**

Peter typed up a quick response.

'_So far, I have no clue if Eddie's dad was involved. That's good.'_

Spider-Man tucked the phone back into his pocket, and jumped off the building.

'_I think the next step for me, as a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, is to find out where exactly Beck is hiding.'_

The sound of repulsors almost made Peter fall.

"Hey, Spider-Man!" Iron-Man called out. "Mind if we chat for a second?"

Memories of the night before flickered into Peter's mind.

"Slicha!" Peter replied. "Ani lo medaber Anglet!"

He turned a corner. Iron-Man followed him.

"Sorry, were you just speaking in _Hebrew_?" Peter imagined Tony Stark raising an eyebrow at him.

"Lo."

Iron-Man sighed. "Can you pull over? I need to ask you about something that happened the other night."

"No, sorry! I..uh...I'm late for class."

"This won't take too long. Just, pull over."

'_I'm stuck.'_

Spider-Man landed on a building. He crawled to an edge, before sitting comfortably on a flagpole.

Iron-Man landed in front of him.

"Right," He said. "There was a kid last night who stopped by the Mansion."

"Fanboy?" Spidey cocked his head, deepening his voice. "What, did he break in or-"

"No. But he had a pretty interesting conversation with my AI last night." Iron-Man held out his arm.

A recording of the conversation started to play.

"JARVIS told me that his vitals showed that he was under a lot of stress. It seems like he was running away from something." Iron-Man lowered his arm. "Did you see anything last night?"

"Sounds like he was on drugs."

Mentally, Peter winced.

"Could be." Iron-Man agreed. "But we don't think so. You probably know him. He's that Bugle kid. The one who takes pictures of you."

'_Shit shit shit shit-'_

"Oh...uh...Parker?" Spider-Man asked, praying that the changes that he was making to his voice were subtle enough. "Oh, yeah. Uh...No. Sorry. I didn't see him."

Iron-Man sighed. "You sure?"

The webhead shrugged. "I let him take my pics. I don't know his life story."

"Right." The billionaire replied. "Thanks for the chat."

And with that, he left.

Peter stared after him with his mouth dropped open.

It took him some time to realize two things:

His biological dad might actually care about him?

His biological, superhero dad might get involved in Peter's case.

Not that it really mattered, once he got home.

On the way home, Peter had stopped to change. Since it was the middle of the day, he didn't want to walk into his apartment's alley, where a random stranger might see him breaking into his own bedroom.

The elevator door was broken, so Peter had to take the stairs. He was a bit distracted, mentally, by the conversation he..._Spider-Man _had with Iron-Man. It gave him a bit of hope, to be perfectly honest. Hope that had started to dim these past few weeks.

Like...yeah, it was a little annoying that Mr. Stark was sticking into a case without talking to Peter about it first, but maybe this was a sign that maybe, just maybe-

Peter froze. He gapped at his front door, keys slipping from his fingertips, back into his pocket.

Red paint glimmered in the hallways lighting. Fumes wafted, causing his nostrils to burn. He didn't focus on that, though. He had trouble focusing on anything besides the words that he kept reading over and over again.

'_**I wonder if her blood is as red as her hair.'**_


End file.
